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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24718159">The Singularity</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JungleKarmaPippa/pseuds/JungleKarmaPippa'>JungleKarmaPippa</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Power Rangers R.P.M.</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:02:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>64,958</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24718159</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JungleKarmaPippa/pseuds/JungleKarmaPippa</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A research mission turns rescue mission when an old menace returns. Can rangers who have lost so much pull themselves back together to defeat Venjix and rescue Doctor K?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. When is a mission not a mission?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jen sat in Alex's office, looking around her. She hadn't been to her ex's office in a long time, since he usually talked to her in the Squad Room now, and was amazed at how little it had changed, although it really shouldn’t have surprised her at all. Alex was a creature of habit and he took change hard. </p><p>It had always amused her that Alex kept both plants and mementos in his office, since they gave him away as the sentimental type he was and tried so hard to hide. She could see a prototype of a morpher, some photo cubes and -- her heart skipped a beat -- the engagement ring he had given her –the one she had given back- displayed in a little glass box on a shelf behind his desk. It made her feel uneasy, especially after the last few months, so she looked away from it, looking at the plants on the other side of the room instead and wanting Alex to come in as soon as possible. </p><p>She had to wait a few more minutes before the door opened and Alex walked in, a file tablet of files in his hand. </p><p>"Sorry I'm late," he said, closing the door and walking towards the desk. "Got caught up in something, as usual." </p><p>She smiled. "It's alright. What's going on?" </p><p>He pressed a button on his console on the desk and the crystal wall that kept the interior of his office visible from the hallway went opaque. "I need your help with something." </p><p>"An opaque wall something. It must be serious." Jen knew that Alex didn’t like to lose his view of the squad room, so he only made the wall opaque for very serious or high-level confidentiality meetings. </p><p>"It's not serious, but it is important,” he placed his hands on the desk, folded over the tablet he had brought in with him. “Have you ever met Commander James Robertson?" </p><p>She sat in silence for a minute, trying to remember if she had seen him at the debriefing of the Ransik mission, which most of the commanders had attended. She shook her head. "I don't think he was at the Ransik debriefing and I don’t exactly hang out with commanders. And I’ve been away, so, no." </p><p>"He probably wasn't at the debriefing. James is the head of the Applied Sciences Division. He barely ever goes to debriefings, no matter how important the case." </p><p>"Do you know him?" </p><p>"Well. We met when he asked for my help testing the Time Shadow Megazord. We've become good friends since then." </p><p>"So, the Applied Sciences Division. I'm not sure there's much I can do for them, I’m not a particularly science driven person." </p><p>"Yeah, well, this isn't about the Applied Sciences Division. This is about James." Alex took a deep breath and looked directly at her eyes. "I need you to do something for me." </p><p>"Do you need me to do something for you or something for James?" </p><p> </p><p>"Let’s say it’s for both of us," he looked down at the file on his desk. "James conducts research aside from his work in Time Force and he's working on an interesting project right now. A very important project." </p><p>"What kind of very important project?" </p><p>"He's trying to document and study as much as he can about the Venjix Event -- the near extinction event from early in the 21st century." </p><p>"I know what the Venjix Event is." </p><p>"Well, he found information on a woman. He could only find her by an alias, and he asked me to ask you if you'd interview her for him." </p><p>"Interview her for him? How?" </p><p>"Travelling back in time." His face expressed clearly just how obvious he thought that fact should have been to her. </p><p>"He wants me to travel back to the 21st century and interrogate someone for his research?" Jen said with a raised voice to show she was more than just slightly annoyed by the request. "I have real work to do here, Alex. Real criminals to catch! A city to rebuild! We just came out of a war!" </p><p>"I know but-" </p><p>"But nothing. The answer is no. If he wants to interview this woman, he can do it himself." She got up to leave and Alex stopped her by calling to her. </p><p>"He fears it might happen again." She turned to look at him and Alex continued, "He thinks the technological moment right now is perfect for an event similar to the Venjix one." He pointed at the chair. "Please." </p><p>She sat back down. "I still don't understand why he can't do it himself." </p><p>"Like I said, this is research he's conducting aside from Time Force for now. He will admit it's a bit of a crazy theory if you asked him right now. That's why he wants to know as much as he can about Venjix, especially where it came from and how it was defeated before presenting it to the other commanders." </p><p>"And he can't leave his post at Time Force, but I can." </p><p>"It's not just Time Force he has to worry about, it’s more complicated. But that's not why he asked me to ask you. He wasn't at the Ransik debriefing but he read the transcripts. He thinks your knowledge of the time period and your capacity to work alone as well as a part of a team are impressive, and he thinks you show great empathy, which makes you ideal for the kind of interview he needs." Jen fixed her eyes on him as he spoke of her capacities. "I have to say I agree with him." </p><p>"So he doesn't want someone to go to the past to do this interview he wants-"  </p><p>"You. He wants you to do it." </p><p>She blushed slightly. "I'm flattered, but even if I agree, how will I get there? It's not like Time Force will lend me a time ship to do research, no matter if it's for a commander." </p><p>"You won't be using one of Time Force's ships. You'll be using one of James' ships." She looked at him, frozen in shock. She couldn’t imagine how someone could own a time ship, it wasn’t like the technology was accessible to the general public. Let alone more than one.  </p><p>"One of James' time ships?" She heard herself repeat. </p><p>"Yes, his research labs have a small fleet," Alex said nonchalantly. "As for the permissions, don't worry. That's where I come in." </p><p>"And who will take care of my cases while I am gone? Alex, I need some time to think this through." </p><p>"I will." </p><p>Her eyes went wide. "You? You will take my cases?" </p><p>"Personally. And I will do my best to close as many of them as I can." </p><p>And by that he meant all of them, Jen knew. Whoever this James Robertson guy was, he meant a lot to Alex if he was willing to be back on the street just so she could do this for him. </p><p>"He's a really close friend, isn't he?" </p><p>Alex didn't answer immediately. He got up and paced up and down the office a couple of times. He stopped and looked at her, as if he was trying to find the right words. "Shortly after we met, I found out, and not from him, that it was James who saved my life after Ransik attacked me. It was technology he had developed that saved me. He didn't bring it up or cash in on it, and I don't think he knows that I know he saved my life. It's his technology that keeps me alive, Jen, and yet, he has never mentioned a single thing about it." </p><p>"He sounds like a very humble man." </p><p>"He is. He saved my life and if he asked me to shake Time Force from the foundation so he could test a theory, I would do it. I'm not letting you leave this office until you say 'yes'." </p><p>"If he means that much to you and if he asked for me specifically, how can I say 'no' to the man who saved your life?" She had gotten up and was standing very close to him. </p><p>He stepped away from her and sat down again. He took a couple of deep breaths while Jen sat back down. "Good, thank you. I’m sorry that got a little—anyway, here are the details." He handed her the tablet he had been holding when he came in. "James will program one other stop in your ship. There's someone he'd like you to pick up before you get to Corinth. Another asset for the interviews, I honestly don’t know how he finds these people." </p><p>Jen did a quick scan through the information in the tablet. The names of the people she had to interview, information on the specific time period, the coordinates to Corinth City and a very long list of equipment. "All this equipment is at my disposal for just a couple of interviews?" </p><p>"From James' labs, yes." </p><p>"You keep saying 'James' labs' instead of Time Force's-" </p><p>"That stuff doesn't belong to Time Force, Jen. This is not a Time Force mission. You’re not been ordered by James or me to go on this mission. This is an everything goes research mission. James is asking you, on the side, one person to another, to conduct a research mission for him.  All that stuff belongs to James, not Time Force." He opened his drawer and pulled out a black box. "However, this does belong to Time Force," he said, opening the box and holding it so she could see its contents. Inside was her morpher. She looked at it, her heart racing. She hadn’t seen or worn it in almost two years. "I think you should take this, just in case. Take good care of it." </p><p>She took the device carefully and felt like she was being reunited with an old friend. He put the box in front of her. "You can't put it on while you're still in this time. Time Force can track it and you haven’t been cleared to use it again. But It's still locked to your DNA." She put the device back in the box and closed it. "It's almost lunch time. Have lunch and meet me at the main gate. I'll take you to James' labs." </p><p>"Do I at least get to meet him before I leave?" </p><p>"He was very adamant that he would be too busy elsewhere to meet you before you left. Which is code for 'I need an alibi and I will make one'." </p><p>She smirked. "So he can throw us under the bus if things go wrong?" </p><p>It was his turn to smirk. “Actually, he’s giving me an alibi too and you were never here so…” </p><p>“I see. Mischievous little commander.” </p><p>"Well, I know you are not a gossip kind of woman," Alex said getting up to lead her out of the office. "But he’s very mischievous. A total ladies’ man. And gentlemen's man too, he’s not picky."  She laughed. “He says he just doesn’t like to dine alone, make of that what you will.”  </p><p>He opened the door to indicate she should leave. </p><p>"I'll see you after lunch." </p><p>"See you." </p><p> </p><p>After lunch, Alex drove her to what he kept referring to as 'James' labs', which turned out to be a very famous multibillionaire interplanetary applied sciences company that produced everything from ships to medication. Jen remembered something that had been in the news recently about this company. </p><p>"Alex." He grunted to let her know he was listening. "Wasn't this the pharma company that created the test for that alien plague that was causing all those deaths these past few months?" </p><p>"The test, the treatment and the vaccine. All developed personally by James." </p><p>"He developed them himself?" She scoffed, as if a such thing was ridiculous. "I'm sure that's what he told people-" </p><p>"The press release credited the research team of the pharmacological division for the development," Alex told her, briefly taking his eyes off the road to glance at her. "But James did it himself. I know that for a fact because his assistant kept calling me to drag him home. I never could, not until he was finished. He slept on the floor, ate poorly, and wouldn't stop talking to himself. I thought he had lost it. But then he developed the test, and right after that, the cure and the vaccine. </p><p>You'd think that was enough but he wouldn't go home until he was sure all three would be available to anyone who needed them-" </p><p>"For free," Jen interrupted. "I saw it on the news. Very generous of him." </p><p>"That's James." </p><p>When they arrived, Alex got out of the car and she followed his lead. Jen waited while Alex talked to a nice looking young man who smiled at her. </p><p>"Sergeant Scotts," he said, walking up to her. "I'm Charles, Mr. Robertson's assistant. Everything has been set up for your mission." </p><p>Jen was barely paying attention to him. She was looking around, searching for the gigantic portrait of James Robertson that was bound to be somewhere. Her eyes fell on Alex and Charles, who were looking at her as if waiting for an answer. </p><p>"Sorry, I got distracted by the surroundings." </p><p>"Yes, the atrium can be quite a sight," Charles commented with a smile. "Mr. Robertson has very fine taste and it is important for him that his employees like their work environment." Jen wondered why there was no portrait and asked Charles about it. The young man let out a little laugh and smiled. "That's not how Mr. Robertson does things." </p><p>"He’s as private as he can be, it gives him room to do things his way," Alex told her. </p><p>"Please, come with me," Charles said and they followed him out of the atrium towards one of the transport pods which took them through the various buildings, until finally stopping in a hangar where Jen finally saw the ship she would be using for this mission. </p><p>She was expecting something similar to the bulky, round, and yellow time ship Time Force had, but this ship was very different. It was much smaller, sleeker and the overall design was very elegant: a flat, arrow-like body with shiny silver finish. She was fascinated. </p><p>"Wow," she whispered, staring at it enthusiastically. </p><p>"The newest model. Interdimensional storage units allow for less weight and bulk, and it contains our most advanced engine and state of the art time travel technology," Charles recited. "And she's all yours." </p><p>"She doesn't need a big crew, then?" she asked, her eyes still glued to the ship. </p><p>Charles exchanged a look with Alex and cleared his throat. "I mean, she's literally all yours." Jen still didn't look away from the vehicle. </p><p>Charles looked at Alex for help. "He means the ship belongs to you, Jen." </p><p>That got Jen's attention. She looked away from the ship and over at Alex. "What do you mean the ship belongs to me?" </p><p>"Mr. Robertson thought it would be a nice thank you for accepting this mission," Charles explained. </p><p>"What am I supposed to do with my own time ship?" Jen asked him. She looked at Alex. "Why is your friend giving me my own time ship?" </p><p>"He read the transcripts of the Ransik debriefings," he reminded her, giving her a meaningful look. "Perhaps he thought you'd like to visit someone in your time ship." </p><p>Jen closed her eyes. "Alex, this is really not-" </p><p>"Necessary?" </p><p>"-kind of him," she said. "It sounds like a cruel thing to-" </p><p>"Do for someone who is in love with someone from another time?" </p><p>"-do to you," she finished. </p><p>He looked at her and his expression softened. Then he smiled at her. "You win some, you lose some, Jen." He looked at the ship. "I will take care of the permits every time you want to see him." </p><p>Jen didn't know what to say. This kind of thing was the reason she had fallen in love with Alex in the first place. He had arranged it so she could visit Wes whenever she wanted to, instead of cutting her out of his life. </p><p>“This was your idea, wasn’t it?” She looked at him as he looked at the ship to avoid answering. "I can't accept it." Both Alex and Charles looked at her but for different reasons. "I will use it for the mission but I can't just keep the ship. I'm sure Commander Robertson will find better uses for it." There was a question in Alex's eyes. She looked away from him to stare pointedly at Charles who got the hint. </p><p>"I'll go double-check everything is ready for you, sergeant," he said, walking towards the ship. Once they were alone, Jen and Alex just stared at each other in silence for a moment. </p><p>"I'm over Wes,” she said bluntly. </p><p>Alex looked at her, confused. "Sorry, what?" </p><p>"I'm over him," she repeated, averting her gaze. “The war, what happened, the things I did…” she took a deep breath. </p><p>There was no need for any more explanations. </p><p>"He wouldn't be the first love of your life you got over." </p><p>She closed her eyes, hurt by his words. "Alex, I'm sorry. I really thought-" </p><p>"This is not the time or the place to have this conversation," he said.  She nodded. "We'll talk when you come back if you want, but know that James will not let this stand. He will repay you somehow for helping him and he won't take no for an answer." </p><p>"Understood. I didn't pack or anything, what if it takes me longer than expected?" </p><p>"Knowing James, there are enough clothes of your size and style packed inside somewhere," he replied, glad to change the subject. </p><p>"How would he know my size?" she wondered as she walked towards the ship. "Did you tell him?" </p><p>"It's one of his many talents," Alex commented, walking behind her. “He’s a ladies’ man.” Alex smiled and shrugged. “And a gentleman’s man too, he’s not picky.” </p><p>"Okay. I guess he probably has been with enough… ‘ladies’ to guess sizes.” </p><p>He heard her sarcasm and shook his head while he smirked. “He just doesn’t like to dine alone.” </p><p>“Right.” </p><p>“Let’s get you going, we don’t have much time,” he said and led the walk to the ship. </p><p> </p><p>The inside of the ship was somehow even more spectacular to Jen. It was brightly lit, the controls were elegant silver buttons on black glass panels and the many holographic screens were sharp and easy to read. It seemed like a good example of the fine taste Charles had mentioned James had. </p><p>There were seats for five people inside the ship, but it was obvious that only one person was required to fly it, the pilot’s seat was easily recognizable.  </p><p>"It seats five," she commented. </p><p>"Passengers," Charles told her. "She pretty much flies herself once she's been programmed. She will respond to verbal and tactile commands and-" He pressed a button on the console and the screen showed a list of items. "-you can access all the equipment by pressing here and then lightly placing your finger on the item on the hologram." </p><p>Jen scanned the list of items more carefully, it was the same Alex had shown her in his office. Some of the equipment seemed like odd things to pack for a research mission. She mentioned this to Charles. </p><p>"All the ships are kept ready in case of an emergency. They’re kept stocked with various equipment Mr. Robertson thinks may be useful." </p><p>Charles had said it before, but this time Jen noticed that Charles didn't refer to Commander Robertson by his rank. "Why do you call him 'Mr. Robertson'? You addressed me as ‘sergeant’." </p><p>Charles lean face went slightly red and he glanced at Alex, before returning his attention to Jen. "James, I mean, Mr. Robertson doesn't like it when people address him by his rank." </p><p>"Or as 'Mr. Robertson'," Alex added, looking at Charles. "He asks everybody to call him 'James'," he told Jen. </p><p>“And everybody does," Charles added with a shy smile. </p><p>"Except his butler, who keeps referring to him as 'Master James', making him cringe every time," Alex pointed out and both he and Charles stifled laughs, clearly remembering instances when this had happened. </p><p>"Why can't he just program his butler to call him James?" She asked. Surely a man of such wealth and wit knew how to program a household robot. Or had someone to do it for him. </p><p>Charles and Alex exchanged another knowing look. "James' butler is not a robot, Jen." </p><p>Jen just looked at them and then her eyes fixed on Charles. She could see he clearly wasn’t a robot either. She had assumed he was just a hyper-realistic android. Clearly James Robertson had a lot more money and charm than she had thought. </p><p>"You're not an android," she told Charles. </p><p>He shook his head. "One hundred percent human." </p><p>"And you are one of James'…" she stopped herself. She didn't want to call him 'servant'. </p><p>"I serve James with great pleasure, sergeant. It's no big deal. His closest staff are all humans." </p><p>"James doesn't entirely like robots. He tolerates them as the part of life they are but he prefers working with humans," Alex told her. "The story of his personal staff is fascinating but we'll save it for another day because whatever alibi he's giving himself for this won't last much longer. You need to leave." </p><p>"Just sit down and buckle up. Put your right palm on the reader. The ship has been locked to your DNA and fingerprints, and, like I said, she will fly herself," Charles instructed. He handed her a black gauntlet for her left hand, which had a beautiful pattern on it. "This control gauntlet will also give you access to the equipment from wherever you are outside the ship and he wanted you to have these." He handed her two small metallic bars. "James has been developing them for Time Force. Quantic police batons. If they come in handy, you can tell him how they do."  </p><p>"Why would I need these?" she asked, looking at Alex. He had given her her morpher back too. "Is there something you're not telling me?" </p><p>Alex shook his head and looked at Charles who smiled. "You know me, I prefer to cover all the bases. These are just precautions in case you run into trouble." </p><p>"Right," she said, not entirely convinced they were telling her the full truth. “How do I use these?” She asked Charles, showing him the bars. They were the size of a pair of batteries but were remarkably heavy. </p><p>“Think of how long and heavy you need them to be and they’ll take subatomic particles from the environment to change and fit your needs.” </p><p>“They’re magical police batons?” Jen mocked, looking at the little bars. </p><p>“Quantic.” Charles corrected and moved towards the door. "I was told you travelled in a Time Force time ship before. You will find your travel in this ship a lot more comfortable." </p><p>"Comfortable?" She really doubted being spun around at top speed could under any circumstances be comfortable. </p><p>"She doesn't spin, Jen," Alex told her with a smile, as if he had read her mind, he moved towards the door too. "You won't even notice she's moved." </p><p>With that, both men exited the ship. When they were a safe distance away, the palm reader glowed green on the black glass, indicating the ship was ready for departure. Jen stared at it and swallowed. She felt like she was losing her mind. This James Robertson character sounded like the most eccentric billionaire she had ever heard of and here she was leaving everything behind for him without even meeting him. </p><p>As she put her hand on the reader and the ship started the launch sequence, she thought that maybe she could keep the ship after all.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. One odd asset</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jen was surprised that Charles and Alex hadn't been lying or exaggerating when they said the ship was downright comfortable.<br/>The seat hugged her body and reclined comfortably and from the start of the launch sequence until the end of the landing sequence she didn't feel a thing, not even noise from the engine. The ship remained still and silent throughout the entire journey. As if it hadn't moved at all.<br/>Before getting out, she checked the files of her mission. Even though it wasn't technically a mission, she had found no other way to refer to it.<br/>The other stop programmed on the ship was in the year 2025, just outside of Newtech City. She was there to find a cadet from the intergalactic law enforcement agency, Space Patrol Delta. This cadet, Bridge Carson, was a B-squad ranger, whatever that meant; and was specially skilled in interrogation and interviewing. The file said his DNA signature had been programmed into her scanner, which she could access by touching it on the equipment access screen, and it would lead her to him.<br/>Jen wondered whether she should change out of her Time Force uniform before leaving the ship, but then thought that if Bridge Carson was a cadet at what was essentially an intergalactic police force, her uniform would make the best impression.<br/>She grabbed the scanner- a pair of sunglasses like the ones issued by Time Force but done with James Robertson's famous fine taste- and pressed a circle in the beautiful pattern of her control gauntlet. She was teleported out of the ship and to the ground right next to it.<br/>She put the scanner on and it began its work, finally indicating her, in a very pleasant voice directly to her ear, to walk straight ahead.<br/>"I could get used to this," Jen said out loud, and she really could. Robertson's equipment was much better than Time Force's, it was cleaner, faster and generally worked better. She wondered why James Robertson hadn't shared all these little innovations with the Time Force, given he was the head of the Applied Sciences Division.<br/>She followed the scanner's instructions to a crime scene, which was crawling with SPD officers, all properly identified by their uniforms and badges. There was a buzz of activity and the scanner indicated that Bridge Carson was within 100 meters of her current location. She looked around, moving slowly so the scanner had time to scan each person.<br/>She saw a tall, blond man whose uniform had details in blue and she prayed that was Bridge Carson because he looked very competent and secure. But he wasn't.<br/>Bridge Carson, as her scanner informed her a moment later, was the one lying on the floor, staring at a stray cat. He looked at the cat fixedly for a few seconds and then blinked very slowly. Not paying him any attention in particular, the cat looked to both sides as he did this.<br/>Jen approached him slowly, but her footsteps scared the cat away.<br/>"No! No! Come back!" Bridge yelled after it, from the floor.<br/>"Cadet Carson?" Jen asked, taking off the scanner.<br/>Bridge looked in her direction and saw her boots. He looked up as high as he could to see her silhouette against the sun.<br/>"Bridge?" Jen asked again.<br/>"Yes," the cadet said, getting up and running his hands over the front of his uniform to shake off the dirt. Then he ran his gloved hands over his buttocks, to clean the gloves. "I'm Bridge Carson," he gave her a once over and stood a little straighter. "Ma'am."<br/>Jen offered her hand. "Jen Scotts," he shook her hand distractedly, still looking around for the cat. "Sorry I scared your cat."<br/>He smiled at her. "I have to find her, you see? She's a key witness in our investigation."<br/>"The cat is a key witness?"<br/>"She saw the whole thing, I'm sure. I was trying to calm her down, I know she knows more than she's letting on, you know?" Bridge crouched, looking around for the cat. "Retrieving her statement might be vital to our case."<br/>"Right," Jen said, trying to make the moment less awkward. "Bridge, can I talk to you for a moment? This is important."<br/>"Yeah, sure," he smiled at her. "I'm all ears, well, not literally all ears but... Sorry. Go ahead."<br/>"I work with the Time Force," Jen showed him her badge. "We are a law enforcement agency that deals with time and all crimes committed against it."<br/>"So, you're like time traveler?" Bridge asked, his green eyes shinning.<br/>"Yes, I'm a time traveler. And I need your help with a mission."<br/>Bridge looked around and then pointed at himself. "You need my help? Or you need my team's help?"<br/>"I was told you were very good at interrogations and interviews. And since they have you interrogating cats, I'm sure your capacities are exceptional." Jen tried not to sound cynical about it but she wasn't sure she had managed. Everything about Bridge, from his disheveled uniform to his messy hair, to the way he talked, made her doubt he had any special capacities for anything. She could almost imagine Alex, Charles and a dark, faceless figure who was James Robertson, laughing at her, such a funny prank.<br/>Bridge shrugged. "I have my talents," he wiggled his gloved fingers in front of her. "So, is this mission in the future?"<br/>"The past, actually."<br/>"Awesome! I've always wanted to go to the past, there is so much stuff in the past. But I wouldn't like to go to my own past, like, when I was in grammar school or something like that because that wasn't very fun, but the past, past, like really in the past, I would love to go there, there are so many things I would love to see, and so many cool people I'd love to meet-"<br/>"Well, we're only going to an specific moment in time," Jen said to stop the other officer's ramblings.<br/>"When?"<br/>"About a year after the Venjix Event."<br/>"A year after the Venjix Event? But it's not because it's back, is it? I mean, it can't be back, can it? Of course it's not back, if it were back, then this future would be changing and it hasn't changed, which means the past hasn't changed, which means Venjix can't be back, because if it were back, we would be in a different future, unless we already are in a different future and haven't noticed, would we be able to tell if we were in a different future? What if the changes of the past have already been assimilated into this timeline, or unless there is another timeline--"<br/>"Bridge!" Jen snapped, to shut him up. He closed his mouth and looked at her with the same expression a puppy makes when he's told off. "Venjix is not back. We are only going to interview some people about it."<br/>"Oh, cool," Bridge said looking much more relaxed.<br/>"Are you coming, then?"<br/>"Sure!" He looked around at the crime scene where they were standing. "But, can you bring me back to this same moment? I really need to get that cat's statement. Besides, we are in the middle of our fight against Emperor Gruumm and I don't think Commander Cruger would be too happy with me if I disappeared before Gruumm is defeated, where else would he get another green ranger? I guess he could always use someone from the C-squad but I don't think they're that ready--"<br/>"I promise they won't even notice you've been gone."<br/>They walked away from the crime scene, nobody really taking notice Bridge was leaving with a stranger in an uniform nobody had seen before, because even if they did see him, they just supposed that was Bridge being Bridge and following what he thought was a potential lead.<br/>When they got to the ship, Jen teleported them inside without delay.<br/>"Wow," Bridge let out, looking around him once he was in the ship. "This is so cool".<br/>"Don't touch anything," Jen warned. She looked around and then at Bridge, who was still admiring the ship. "She's a beauty, isn't she?"<br/>"Yeah," the green ranger admitted. "Is she yours?"<br/>Jen looked at him, not sure how to answer that. "Not really, she belongs to the people who sent me on this mission."<br/>Bridge looked at her and squinted, as if he couldn't see her clearly. "Okay," he said after a moment and smiled at her.<br/>"Take a seat, I promise the trip will be pleasant."<br/>Bridge sat down and found the way the seat adjusted to his body very comfortable. "This is very comfortable. The SPD ships aren't this comfortable. I mean, there's nothing wrong with them, they are fine, but they are not this comfortable, which is really comfortable, like really, really comfortable-"<br/>"We'll be there in no time," Jen said distractedly, looking at the controls and waiting for the palm reader to turn green.<br/>Bridge chuckled. "Nice one."<br/>Jen looked at him questioningly.<br/>"Because it's a time ship, right?" She still looked like she had no idea of what he was talking about, an expression Bridge knew all too well. "'We'll be there in no time', because it's a time ship."<br/>Jen became aware of what she had said and chuckled. "No pun intended, I'm afraid." She put her palm in the reader and the ship indicated, only by a status message on the control panel, that it was moving through time to the year 2015, a year after the RPM ranger series team had defeated Venjix, the self-aware, self-replicating computer virus that had brought humanity within an inch of extinction with its army of robotic soldiers.<br/>Jen opened the files, showing them to Bridge. "Okay, we're here to see this woman, Doctor K, that's an alias, her real name is not on record."<br/>"What does she have to do with Venjix?" Bridge asked.<br/>She kept reading. "She created the ranger series program that defeated Venjix," Jen said. "And she coordinated Venjix's defeat."<br/>"Well, I say we go find the doctor."<br/>"Let's go, cadet. You should be back in your crime scene in-"<br/>"No time!" He completed and they both chuckled.<br/>"Come on, we landed outside of the city dome, we have a short walk to get there."<br/>She teleported them out of the ship and they were hit by the heat wave like a punch in the stomach. It felt like they had walked into an oven.<br/>"Wow, it's a little hot here," Bridge said as he unzipped his jacket.<br/>Jen imitated him and took off hers. "You can say that again."<br/>The light was very bright, so she put on her scanner, for it to act like a pair of sunglasses, and used her gauntlet to find a pair for Bridge, who was squinting as much as he could without actually closing his eyes. The second scanner materialized in her hand and she handed it to Bridge.<br/>The cadet put it on and the scanner informed him it was scanning for mutant DNA.  Bridge swallowed hard, he looked down at his hands and the scanner locked on them and turned red, informing him that mutant DNA had been found. In a rather sudden move, Bridge clasped both of his hands behind his back.<br/>"Everything alright?" Jen asked, weirded out by his actions.<br/>"Why are my sunglasses scanning for mutant DNA?" He asked.<br/>"It must be the default programming. Most mutants are criminals in my time, ignore it, it's unlikely it will find anything."<br/>"Is yours doing it as well?" Bridge tried not to sound nervous.<br/>"No. Mine is programmed to find your DNA," she said. "Why, are you getting something?" She asked, moving her hand to the side of her head to adjust her scanner.<br/>"No!" Bridge said, slightly louder than he intended. "I was just curious."<br/>But Jen had already adjusted her scanner and was looking in his direction, which meant she had probably gotten the same results he had.<br/>"I can explain," Bridge said, raising his hands in front of him.<br/>"You're a mutant?"<br/>"But I'm not a criminal!"<br/>"Of course you're not a criminal," she laughed off. "You're a police officer." She put her hand on his shoulder. "Besides,  you're not the type of mutant we scan for."<br/>He was completely dumbfounded. "Oh."<br/>"Come on, we have to get out of this heat."<br/>They started walking towards the Corinth city dome, which was about a kilometer away from where they were.<br/>When they were almost at the entrance of the dome, unguarded now that Venjix had been defeated, Bridge stopped walking and starting looking around, like he had heard something.<br/>Jen stopped and watched him, as he turned his head from side to side, then swept his hand in front of him, like he was pushing a veil away.<br/>"What is it?" Jen asked.<br/>"Wait a sec," he said, turning on his heel and repeating the sweeping motion. He furrowed his brow and pursed his lips, taking off his right glove. He repeated the sweeping motion barehanded, turned and did it again. "Well, that's not very helpful."<br/>"What's not very helpful?"<br/>"I'm getting a faint signal of something that walked out of this gate, but it's too faint. I can't tell if it's human or alien or... something else."<br/>"By something else you mean robotic?"<br/>"I guess. The energy signature is too faint, I can't see clearly what it was. But it was unlikely to be a robot because there is an emotion lingering, I just can't identify it anymore. It's too degraded."<br/>"Sorry, what? I'm not following."<br/>Used as he was to use his telemetry powers around his teammates, Bridge completely ignored the fact Jen didn't know about them and had no idea of what he was talking about. He turned to her and showed her his naked hand. "Sorry, my bad, I'm used to everybody around me knowing about my powers. I have telemetry, I can read auras and energy signatures and such. That's my mutation."<br/>"Oh," Jen said, catching up. "And you felt someone leaving Corinth towards the wasteland?"<br/>"Yes."<br/>"Alone?"<br/>"That's the thing, it's likely it was one person. Not a group, like you would expect from an party to find more survivors. The energy is too faint, it was less than three people, I'm almost sure it's only one."<br/>"And you say it's not a robot because there's an emotion?"<br/>"Yes, there's an emotion. But I can't identify it."<br/>"It's too faint?"<br/>"Yes and no," Bridge started with a shrug. Jen took in a deep breath preparing for the green ranger's ramblings. "The emotion is the strongest trail left, far stronger than the energy print of this person but I can't identify the emotion, like, it's hidden or covered by something else... have you ever tried not to feel something? Like, someone made you really angry or sad and you tried very hard not to feel angry or sad but that only made it worse inside you but the other person didn't notice because you tried not to feel it so they couldn't tell you were feeling it because you didn't show it, despite being feeling it? Have you ever hid an emotion so well you yourself thought you weren't feeling it at all?"<br/>"I guess you could say something like that, yes."<br/>"Well, this emotion is hidden like that, like this person was trying so hard not to feel it, they believed they weren't feeling it when in reality, they were really feeling it a lot but it was just very well hidden under... something else."<br/>"Under what else?"<br/>Bridge shrugged and put his glove back on. "I don't know. I can't even tell what emotion it was that was hidden."<br/>Jen adjusted her scanner for human DNA and as far reach as she could. She looked around them but there was nothing. Whoever had walked out of that gate, was long gone by now.<br/>"Well, I guess we can't do anything for them now," she said. "Come one, we have to get to the city before we melt under this sun."<br/>"I wouldn't like melting under the sun," Bridge said pensively. "It would be a very painful and messy, I think."<br/>Jen said nothing and started walking towards the gate.<br/>After a couple of minutes of walking, they reached the Corinth City dome and were very happy to feel the fresh air coming from inside on their skin.<br/>"This is not how I always imagined Corinth City was," Bridge said, looking around at the lively metropolis full of people on their way home from work, walking around carrying their groceries, eating ice cream with their children or walking their dogs.<br/>"Me neither," Jen said.<br/>The last standing city of mankind wasn't a mess of post-war bunks and badly distributed food and medical supplies, with people crying in misery, dirty and decrepit.<br/>It was a state of the art, modern city full of happy citizens living life as if Venjix had never happened, perhaps even better.<br/>Jen smiled, remembering the state of her own home in the aftermath of an interplanetary war that had made the gangs of mutants look like a lazy Sunday morning.<br/>Humankind, always resilient. Always moving forward.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The doctor is out</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As they walked deeper into Corinth City, it became obvious finding the person they were looking for wouldn't be as easy as they had originally thought. <br/>"How do we find Doctor K?" Bridge asked, looking around at the streets of seemingly endless rows of identical houses. <br/>Jen was checking the files from the mission, neatly displayed in a hologram over her left wrist, where she had been wearing her morpher since she had landed in New Tech City. She was reading through them fast, trying to find information on where Doctor K might live. <br/>"This file only has her alias and that she lived in Corinth. No address.” She sighed and closed the file. “I guess a thousand years is a lot of time for records to survive intact. Let me check the other files." <br/>"Whoa... A thousand years?!" <br/>Jen looked at Bridge and realized she hadn't actually said what year she came from until that moment. "Yes, a thousand years. Don't ask me anything though because I can't tell you." <br/>"From a thousand years in the future?! Oh, come on, there has got to be one thing you can tell me, something small, it doesn't have to be a big deal, or from my future. Just something simple, please?" <br/>She tried not to smile but his child-like enthusiasm was kind of adorable. He reminded her a bit of Trip and she was growing fond of him. She decided to humor him, telling him something he had once told Wes with no consequence: "There is no junk food or desserts." <br/>"No way!" Bridge looked and sounded scandalized. "How do you live your lives without chocolate pudding?!" </p><p>Jen laughed at the innocence of his question. If only he knew what they had just gone through. "We focus on other things." She kept reading the files as fast as she could until she found K’s address. “Okay, I have a last known address here.” She looked around and saw a booth labeled ‘information’. She pointed to it for Bridge to see and walked over. “I have the address but we still need directions. Maybe the booth can tell us how to get there.” </p><p>She typed the address in the booth’s keyboard and touched the option for ‘instructions’. The booth responded with a series of instructions. <br/>"Did you get that?" Jen asked. <br/>"I have an excellent memory." He said, lightly tapping his temple and reciting the directions given by the booth. <br/>Jen was staring at the screen. There was a picture of Doctor K displayed over her address. “Is that her?” she whispered. <br/>Bridge looked at the photo, his face also serious. “I thought we were sent here to interview a woman.” <br/>Jen looked at the picture of the girl, who couldn’t be older than 17 and whispered: “Me too.” <br/>They looked at each other, each wondering how a young girl like that could have gotten caught in the middle of a fight for the safety of the world. <br/>“Come on,” Jen whispered, pulling Bridge away from the booth. “Let’s find her.” </p><p>They started walking following the booth's instructions and to distract herself from the horrible scenarios her mind was conjuring about how Doctor K may have gotten involved in the Venjix fight, Jen picked up the subject of Bridge's powers again. "So, how does that work?” she pointed at his hands. “Are you a psychic or something?" <br/>"Or something,” Bridge responded with a shrug. “I have displayed some telepathic powers but they aren't really that strong. I can feel the energy around things or people, and I see it in colors, depending on their emotions, thoughts, intentions... I can also sort of see a recreation of what happened in a particular space, as long as whatever happened wasn't so long ago that the energy prints have faded completely. It’s like I’m a psychic but backwards, instead of seeing the future, I see the past." <br/>“That sounds like something that would be useful in a crime scene,” Jen commented. "I’m sorry, I was told you were skilled at interviewing and when you said you had powers I assumed the two things were related," she admitted not looking at him. <br/>"Well, I can tell if someone is lying or hiding something. I will see the changes in the colors of their auras," Bridge explained to her. "But I had the top marks in my interrogation class. I didn't cheat or anything. I didn't use my powers," he defended before she had the chance to accuse him. "I just paid a lot of attention to what was right in front of--" He crashed against a red haired young man who was carrying a box of peppers as he said this. "Oh, sorry!" Bridge said. <br/>"No problem," the young man said with a smile and kept walking. He was wearing the very bizarre combination of a yellow shirt and zebra print pants. </p><p>Jen and Bridge watched him walk away before Bridge picked up where he had left off, "I just paid a lot of attention to what was right in front of me." <br/>"That's great," Jen said with a smile. "I didn't assume you had cheated on your exam, by the way. I just wasn’t told much about you and I didn’t know what to expect." <br/>They walked a few meters and then Bridge asked, "What about you? How did you end up here?" <br/>She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "I told you I couldn’t tell you anything about the future." <br/>"But you can tell me about you, can't you?" <br/>She sighed. "I was asked to investigate as much as I could about the Venjix Event, I was given a time ship and a set of instructions and here I am." <br/>"Did Time Force send you here? Wouldn't they know everything about Venjix?" <br/>It was a fair question. "Well, we don't know everything about everything and very few trustworthy sources of information about the Venjix Event survived. The reports are either incomplete, exaggerated, novelized or otherwise compromised. And Time Force doesn't really do exploration or research missions, mostly timeline correction ones." <br/>Bridge furrowed his brow and pointed at her with his index finger. "You said this was a research mission." <br/>"And it is." <br/>"But now you just said Time Force doesn't do research missions." <br/>Jen kept her gaze away from Bridge and her back as straight as she could. "This technically isn't a Time Force mission." <br/>"But you do work for Time Force." <br/>"Yes. And so does the man who sent me here. He just… sent me outside of Time Force's jurisdiction, that's all." <br/>"Why?"<br/>"Why what?" <br/>"Why send you outside of Time Force official jurisdiction if you both work for Time Force?" <br/>Jen looked at Bridge, seeing why the kooky officer had aced his interrogation exam. He knew exactly which questions to ask, she was completely cornered. "I don't know." <br/>Bridge gave her a long, hard look. "Yes, you do. What do you get from being outside of Time Force that you don't get from being inside of Time Force?" <br/>"I guess he wanted to give me as much freedom of action as possible." <br/>"Freedom of action for doing what?" <br/>"I don't know, Bridge. I don’t even know if I can use my morpher!" <br/>"How can you not know?" <br/>"I never even met the man," she blurted out, desperately. <br/>Bridge gave her a look full of suspicion and raised his hand, showing her the palm, after a few second, he looked straight ahead and said nothing else. </p><p> </p><p>They walked the rest of the way, which was not long, commenting on Corinth City and how different from their expectations it was. Finally, they got to the address where the booth had told them Doctor K lived. It was a square, tall, brown building with a garage door and absolutely no frills or embellishment.  </p><p>"Well, this looks cozy," Jen whispered as they approached a smaller door, meant for people and not cars. She rang the intercom and then glanced over at Bridge as they waited for an answer. After a few seconds, she ran the intercom again. Still no response. "Guess she's not home," she said but noticed that Bridge was transfixed by the door handle. <br/>He swept his hand over it twice and then took three steps back. From the new distance he swept his hand again. "Jen," he said. "It's a similar reading to what I felt outside of the city." <br/>"The hidden emotion?" <br/>"Yes. And the faint energy print. I don't think there’s anybody inside. In fact, I think--" He put his hand on the handle and pushed it downwards, opening the door. "--the door is open." </p><p>Instinctively, Jen withdrew her blaster and was impressed to see Bridge's first instinct had been to draw his. "Let's have a look," she whispered. </p><p>They opened the door slowly and the space inside was rather dark, since it was late in the afternoon and the lights weren't on. Jen was still unsure of what to do about that when she heard an industrial switch move and snap in place with a loud 'clank'. Bridge had turned the lights on. <br/>The space was very big. It was a double height garage with room for at least four or five cars, and a series of doors lined the wall at the back in two rows, the space at that point divided in two stories. There was also a living space with some chairs and sofas, a pool table, a small open kitchen, and what looked like a reinforced door in the wall behind the kitchen area. <br/>"I'll check upstairs, while you check down here. If you need me, call for me," she instructed. She moved as quietly as she could towards the stairs and climbed them, opening each door and finding an empty bedroom behind each one.  </p><p>She heard a screech of metal grinding against metal and ran towards the stairs but she couldn't see Bridge from where she was.  </p><p>"Bridge?" She called. <br/>"Jen!" He called back. "You have to see this!" </p><p>She ran downstairs and saw that he had opened the reinforced door and was standing inside of what looked like a computer laboratory.  </p><p>"This must be Doctor K's lab," she said. "What happened here?" </p><p>Bridge swiped his hands in front of his face -the gesture Jen now knew meant he was looking for an energy print- several times, from different positions in the lab.  </p><p>“There’s two energy prints left, I can tell that much, but they’re both hidden. If I were a betting man, which I am not because gambling is a risk behavior that can become addictive and has caused the destruction of several homes—” <br/>“Bridge…” <br/>“Sorry.” He walked back to her side by the door of the lab. “I’d have to say this is the same energy print I felt before. If it’s the oldest, it should be the faintest, but it’s not. That would mean Doctor K walked back into the city hiding this emotion that I can’t decipher.” Jen opened her mouth but Bridge lifted his index finger to indicated he wasn’t done. “But that doesn’t make any sense. She had no business outside the dome, at least that we know of. Which means, the only possible explanation is that this is the origin of the print.” <br/>“Why do you think it’s the strongest here?” <br/>“If I had to guess, which I don’t usually do when it comes to crime scenes because it’s not good to come up with theories because there’s this thing called confirmation bias, which is when you have a theory and you—” <br/>“I know what confirmation bias is, Bridge.” <br/>“Right. There are two options, I’d say whatever was covering her emotion got progressively stronger as she left the dome, or the emotion was the most intense here and it faded as she walked out.”  <br/>“That’s a good theory, but it still doesn’t explain what happened here.”  </p><p>They looked around in despair. Every single piece of technology in the lab had been somehow ruined, some of it to the point of absolute destruction. Other things merely had the cables pulled out with extreme force. They saw a white violin smashed among all the pieces. The lab was trashed to the point where none of the tech could even be turned on -- they checked and all the computers were non-responsive. Not even the lights were working properly. Neither one wanted to admit it, but both police officers knew the owner of this laboratory was in no way safe. <br/>"What do you think happened to her?" Bridge asked. </p><p>Silence fell in the room because Jen didn't want to answer that question, and a part of her knew Bridge didn't want to hear the answer either.  </p><p>As a way of not answering the question, she raised her wrist and started checking the files she had been given. "There's someone else we can ask for help and information," she started. "While we find out where Doctor K is. Another expert on the Venjix technology. Apparently, he helped her efforts during the fight against Venjix." <br/>"Where do we find him?" <br/>"According to this," she groaned. "Almost on the other side of the city. But it looks promising. He's on the list of people we had to interrogate as a former Power Ranger too." <br/>"What's his name?" <br/> "Doctor William Cranston."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. See a man about a wolf</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The house was modest but well cared for, with a small garden at the front and a little brick fence that ran around the property. Jen opened the gate and walked to the front door, Bridge right behind her. </p><p>The front door was painted navy blue and had a small peep hole. She rang the doorbell. The sound of something similar to a full peel of church bells startled her since the sound suited a giant mansion rather than the small house they stood outside of. She and Bridge shared an amused look and she rang again. </p><p>"Hold on!" someone yelled from inside the house. </p><p>The door opened revealing a young man with dark blond hair and green eyes, which were bright behind a pair of metal rimmed glasses. He was wearing a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants and was drying sweat from his face. They had obviously interrupted his workout. </p><p>Before either one could say anything, he looked at their uniforms and shook his head softly, smirking. "I was wondering how long it was going to take," he said, stepping to the side to let them in. </p><p>"How long what would take?" Bridge asked as they walked into the man's home. </p><p>"How long until people in color coded clothes came by asking questions about Doctor K," the man said, shaking his head. He looked at the floor. “I swear this is like the mob, you can get in but you can’t get out.” </p><p>"Doctor Cranston, I presume," Jen said, offering her hand. "Jen Scotts." </p><p>He shook it. "Billy, please," he said, offering his hand to Bridge, who shook it briefly. </p><p>"Bridge Carson." </p><p>"Pleasure." </p><p>"You are a power ranger!" Bridge said with a tone that sounded more surprised than he intended. </p><p>"I takes one to know one, I guess," Billy said. "Please, sit. Can I offer you anything to drink? </p><p> "Water is fine," Jen said just to be polite as she and Bridge sat down in the blue couch. </p><p>Billy came from the kitchen with three glasses and a pitcher of water and poured each of them a glass. </p><p>"What did you mean 'asking questions about Doctor K'?" Bridge asked. "Do you know what happened to her?" </p><p>Billy looked at both of them, his brow furrowed. "Something happened to Doctor K?" </p><p>Jen and Bridge looked at each other. "You first," Jen said. </p><p>"Doctor K and I exchanged a plethora of communication and assistance during the fight against Venjix. I provided assistance several times when her capacities proved insufficient, which didn't happen often, to be honest. I assumed you were here because I am obviously her associate, if you will." </p><p>"Her associate?" Bridge asked, cocking his head to one side. </p><p>"Yes." </p><p>"Not her friend?" The officer insisted. </p><p>"I wouldn't call what I had with Doctor K a friendship, no. It was more of a collaboration on a very complex project." </p><p>"Right." </p><p>"You said something had happened to her, but you seem uncertain of her whereabouts. What makes you think something happened to her?" Billy asked them in turn. </p><p>"We were at her lab, in the garage," Jen started. Billy sat up straight in his chair but didn't interrupt. "And there were signs of violence.” </p><p>“What kind of signs of violence?” </p><p>“There was evidence of a struggle, the equipment was severely damaged,” Jen informed him.  </p><p>"Damaged how?" Billy asked, bringing the tips of his fingers to his chin. </p><p>"You know, thrown around, cables torn out, smashed parts. Trashed." Jen threw her hands in the air. “As if there had been a very big fight.” </p><p>"What about the Ranger Series morphers? Were they there?" Bridge and Jen looked at each other and shrugged, shaking their heads. Billy got up. "Come on, I need to see the lab for myself." </p><p>"Why? Do you think something bad happened to Doctor K?" Bridge asked. </p><p>Billy looked at him and knew that when Bridge said 'something bad', he meant 'something that has to do with Venjix'. "I last heard from Doctor K about two days ago. She sent me a very concerned email explaining her apprehension about the possibility of Venjix surviving inside her Ranger Series Program." </p><p>"Wait, she thought Venjix may have survived?" </p><p>"Yes," Billy sighed. "And unfortunately, when it came to Venjix, she was rarely wrong." </p><p>"You think Venjix had anything to do with what happened in that lab?" Jen asked. </p><p>Billy got up. “I need to inspect the lab.” </p><p>“Do you think the damage could have been done by Venjix?” Jen asked, she and Bridge getting up too. </p><p>"I can't tell until I've looked at it," Billy said, grabbing a hoodie from the rack by the door. "Let's go, we don't have much time." </p><p>They made their way back to the garage quickly since now they were using Billy's car, and once they got inside, Billy hastily made his was way toward the lab. From the door, he looked around at the destruction and took a deep breath. </p><p>"What do you think?" Jen asked. </p><p>"Why did you come here? Where you summoned here?" Billy asked in turn. </p><p>"No," Jen said. "We asked at the information booth for Doctor K's last known address and it sent us here. Why?" </p><p>"Because this is not Doctor K's last known address," Billy said. "She doesn't live here or use this lab anymore." </p><p>"Then why did the booth send us here?" Bridge said. </p><p>Billy let out a slow, calculated breath but didn't answer the question. "I need to scan every inch of this lab and every single piece of equipment before I can tell you anything for sure." </p><p>"Do you think it's Venjix?" Jen asked bluntly. Billy remained silent. "How long will it take you to scan the lab?" the Time Force officer pushed. </p><p>"I have to put it back together first," Billy said, his eyes still going over the destroyed lab.  </p><p>"How long will it take you to put it back together?" Bridge asked. </p><p>"By myself it will take me way longer than we have, and there isn't a lot of people who know how to deal with equipment this sophisticated and delicate, not to mention Doctor K's operating system was unique to her." Billy closed his eyes and let out a sigh as if steeling himself to do something unpleasant. He opened his eyes and turned to the other two. "Are you two hungry? I'm starving," he asked out of nowhere and walked towards the door. "Do you like pizza?" </p><p>"Pizza?" The officers echoed. They both thought the trashed lab and the possibility of Venjix returning to power were slightly more pressing than pizza. </p><p>"Yes, pizza. Do you like it?" </p><p>Bridge pointed at the lab behind him. "What about--?" </p><p>"I can't think on an empty stomach," Billy said and walked towards the door of the garage. </p><p>"Pizza it is, I guess," Jen told Bridge and they both walked out, following the scientist. </p><p>He drove around for a short while, parked on the side of the street and got out, resolutely walking towards a local restaurant with a sign that read "Jungle Karma Pizza" hanging outside it. It was rather late in the day now and the street was deserted. </p><p>The inside of the restaurant was decorated with plastic vines and plants, little wooden animal figurines and photos of animals. The upholstery of the booths was animal print and there were some small tables covered in little colorful mosaic tiles. </p><p>Billy sat down in one of the booths and Bridge and Jen sat across from him, neither one really understanding what was happening. </p><p>"What are we doing here?" Jen asked Billy, looking around. </p><p>"Eating," Billy answered dismissively. </p><p>Bridge squinted at Billy. "No, seriously, what are we really doing here?" </p><p>A beautiful blonde girl wearing a green t-shirt with the pizzeria's logo on it, an orange apron and zebra-print pants approached their booth. They were the only customers in the restaurant. </p><p>"Good evening, welcome to Jungle Karma Pizza. I'm Lauren and I'll be your waitress tonight," the girl said as she handed them menus which featured pizzas named things like 'Soy Safari', 'Thrilla Gorilla' and ‘Herbivore Heaven’ on it. </p><p>Jen and Bridge had barely had time to look at the menu when Billy said, "We'll have a Mount Kilimanjaro." </p><p>Lauren smiled and took the menu Billy was handing back to her. "Excellent choice. Our chef makes those personally." </p><p>"I know," Billy said, smiling too. "Is RJ still the chef or do you have someone new?" </p><p>"It's still RJ," Lauren answered happily. "I don't think anything will ever get him out of that kitchen. Are you a regular? I don't think I recall seeing you around before." </p><p>"I was a regular back in Ocean Bluff," Billy said. "I was happy when I discovered that good old JKP made it all the way to Corinth." </p><p>The smile on Lauren's face wavered the tiniest bit and then it was back in place. "Well, you'll be happy to know RJ brought all his recipes and abilities with him from Ocean Bluff." </p><p>"I'm counting on it," Billy told her, still smiling. </p><p>"Anything else?" Lauren asked, looking at Jen and Bridge, who had been watching the conversation in awe. </p><p>"I'll have a soda," Jen said clumsily, not having read the menu. </p><p>"Me too." </p><p>"And I'll have a chat with RJ, if you don't mind," Billy said, his smile still there. He looked away from Lauren and crossed his hands over the table. "Tell him Billy's here to see him and tell him I know he's alive and here, because you already screwed up by letting that slip." </p><p>This time, the smile on Lauren's face did disappear completely. It was replaced by a worried expression and she turned, walking swiftly towards the kitchen. </p><p>"What was that?" Jen asked Billy. </p><p>"The only way to deal with RJ is to catch him in the act," Billy said mysteriously. </p><p>"Why would we want to catch him in the act of making pizzas?" Bridge asked, obviously confused. </p><p>"We're not catching him in the act of making pizzas," Billy said, glancing in the direction of the kitchen door. “We’re catching him in the act of being alive.” </p><p>Jen and Bridge looked in the direction of the kitchen door, that had a large glass pane with the restaurant logo in it, and they could see the chef craning his neck to get a look at their booth. </p><p>The door swung open and a man -who somehow looked younger and older than Billy at the same time - walked out resolutely. He had big green eyes and a stubble. His chef jacket was impeccable and he was also wearing an orange apron and zebra-print pants. </p><p>He approached their table with a wide smile on his face. "Billy!" he called happily. "Good to see you made it to Corinth!" </p><p>"Have a seat, Robert," Billy said coldly without as much as a glance at the other man. </p><p>"I'd love to but I have a pizza to make," the other man said, punctuating almost every single word he said with a gesture with his hands. "I'm actually the only one who knows how to make a Mount Kilimanjaro." </p><p>"We're not here for the pizza, Robert." </p><p>The man looked at Jen and Bridge and his smile faded a little, a hint of worry appearing in his eyes for a split second. He blinked and it was gone. He smiled widely again and gestured towards the officers. "Who are your friends?" he asked, his eyes lingering on Jen a little too long. She looked away, noticing she had been staring. </p><p>"Jen and Bridge," Billy replied, pointing at each of them. "Take a seat, Robert." </p><p>"Welcome to Jungle Karma Pizza," the chef said, offering his hand to Bridge who shook it. He offered his hand to Jen, his eyes fixed on hers. "The name's RJ," Jen shook his hand staring right into his eyes. "It's a pleasure to meet you." </p><p>"Sit down, Robert!" Billy snapped, having obviously lost his patience with the chef’s unwavering attempts to delay or avoid whatever conversation Billy wanted to have with him. </p><p>The chef surrendered to Billy’s impatience. "Alright, alright," he said in a calming voice. He dragged a chair from a nearby table towards theirs. "Are you sure you don't want to eat? I mean, you're already here and all,” he offered in one last attempt to avoid having to talk to Billy. </p><p>Bridge and Jen shared a look and nodded. Billy rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine. What do you want to eat?" </p><p>"I like pepperoni," Jen said in almost a whisper, feeling slightly intimidated by the scientist’s sudden aggressive mood. </p><p>"Me too." Bridge said, now looking at RJ fixedly. </p><p>"Awesome!" RJ declared, turning to walk towards the counter, were Lauren was leaning, watching them with interest. </p><p>Bridge raised his hand and swept it in front of him, to read RJ's aura. He frowned, as if he was unhappy with the readings but didn't say anything because RJ was already on his way back from the counter.  </p><p>Having been instructed by RJ, Lauren had disappeared into the kitchen. </p><p>The chef got to the table and sat down on a chair he had dragged over to their booth, his hands on his knees and his eyes on Billy. "I'm all yours," he declared. </p><p>"Why don't you start?" Billy told Jen. </p><p>Caught off guard, since her mind had been wandering without her noticing, Jen gave a little startled jump when Bridge nudged her with his shoulder. "Sorry, what?" </p><p>"Why don't you tell Robert who you are and why you're here?" Billy repeated. </p><p>Jen took a deep breath and looked at RJ, who had only moved to take off his animal print bandana and reveal a mane of brown hair that stuck out at the ends. He looked at her and Jen had the brief impression that he looked like a wild animal, like a lion or a wolf. "Right, my name is Jennifer Scotts. I am a sergeant in the Time Force. I come from the future." She stopped talking to give RJ time to react to the information but he didn't seem fazed. "Bridge Carson is a cadet in Space Patrol Delta. He is also from the future. B-but not the same future." </p><p>Jen kicked herself mentally for stammering. She didn’t understand why she was feeling so nervous about RJ. As far as she knew, he was a chef at a pizza place and only Billy knew what possible reason he could have to make her tell him who they were and why they were there. </p><p>However, RJ nodded encouragingly and she continued telling him about her mission and why she had gotten Bridge, and how they had found Doctor K's lab and then Billy. </p><p>"And your first reaction to seeing this destroyed lab was coming here?" RJ asked Billy after Jen finished. </p><p>Finally, Billy looked at him. "Trust me. I ran through a wide range of other possibilities in my head before deciding to come here." He looked away again. "But you are my best option in this case.” </p><p>“And would ‘this case’ be, exactly?” RJ asked, his face serious. </p><p>Billy looked at him, his face equally stern. “You already know.” </p><p>“I’m sorry, but it sounds to me like this Commander Robertson wants a little too much information about Venjix.” </p><p>“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jen asked, crossing her arms. </p><p>“I don’t know this man. You don’t know this man.” </p><p>“I don’t have to. He was referred by someone I trust blindly.” </p><p>“Someone I don’t know or trust either,” RJ said, getting up. “It sounds to me like Commander Robertson may be looking for the key to recreate Venjix.” </p><p>“With what purpose, exactly?” </p><p>“The same as always: getting power, winning wars, making money—” </p><p>“Commander Robertson happens to have a vast fortune of his own.” </p><p>“Now I trust him even less.” </p><p>“And he’s a great humanitarian and philanthropist.” </p><p>“My trust in him has reached negative numbers,” RJ declared. He looked at Billy. “I’m sorry, but unless you can prove to me that Doctor K is in danger, I’m not going to help some rich dude from the future get enough info to make another Venjix.” </p><p>And with that, he walked back to the kitchen with a brisk pace. </p><p>Billy let out a defeated sigh. He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. </p><p>"I can help you with the lab," Bridge offered. </p><p>"We need his help." </p><p>"Why?" Jen asked. "What's so special about some cowardly pizza cook?" </p><p>"He's a Power Ranger too," Billy sounded impatient. "And he's a genius. He just likes to pretend he's not. He claims it makes his life easier." </p><p>"Well, he’s a coward and he’s not going to help us," Jen said. "So, we'll have to make do with what we do have." </p><p>“You don’t know him, Jen. He’s not a coward. He has very strong convictions and he always acts by them. If he refuses to help us because he thinks your commander might be up to no good, then, believe me, he honestly thinks your commander is up to no good.” </p><p>He stopped talking because Lauren was back with a large pepperoni pizza that looked absolutely delicious. </p><p>"Dig in," Billy said when Lauren went back to the counter for their drinks. "Robert can get a lot of things wrong but pizza is not one of them." </p><p>They ate the pizza voraciously, since it was indeed as delicious as it looked. </p><p> </p><p>From the kitchen, RJ was looking out at them, waiting for them to finish. "Everything okay, RJ?" Lauren asked. </p><p>He looked at her and smiled. "Everything is fine," he lied. There was a chance, and not necessarily a small one, that the Venjix Virus was back but he saw no need to worry her. </p><p>He looked at Billy and felt an emptiness in his heart. They had once, shortly before Venjix had attacked, become very good friends, but their friendship apparently hadn't survived Venjix. It wasn't just the loss of his friendship with Billy that caused the sensation of emptiness in his heart though. It was something else -- something Billy reminded him of. His right hand moved to his neck and grabbed one of the many necklaces hanging from it. He noticed what he was doing and let go, putting his hand in the pocket of his apron. </p><p>"They've finished eating," he told Lauren. "Go get their plates and tell them it’s on the house." </p><p>Lauren nodded obediently and did as she was told. </p><p>RJ walked distractedly to the fridge, opened it and started rearranging the items inside without any particular intention. </p><p>"You alright, boss?" a voice asked from behind him. </p><p>RJ smiled sadly but didn't turn around. "Yes, Chip, everything is fine. Just spirits from the past, catching up." </p><p>With those mysterious words, he closed the fridge and climbed the stairs that led to his living space.  </p><p>Once upstairs, he took off his chef jacket and sat on a stool by his kitchenette's bar. He looked at his home, so similar and yet so different to his home in Ocean Bluff, and felt himself overflooded with sudden emotions he hadn't felt in a long time. The sadness, the frustration, the anger -- they all came crashing on him at once. But it was the overwhelming longing that brought tears to his green eyes. </p><p>He had lost so much to Venjix. </p><p>He felt a pair of tears slide down his cheeks and put his hand in his pocket, pulling out a fern print bandanna, neatly folded. He ran his thumb over it. </p><p>"I can't," he told the piece of fabric, as naturally as if he was talking to an actual person. "I just can't go through that again."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Whispers in the dark</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>RJ sat on his chair -- which was a new one because he had lost his beloved green chair back in Ocean Bluff -- and looked around the city using his new monitoring system. Like his old one, it used the city's own surveillance system to check for unusual activity. </p><p>There was apparently nothing unusual but he kept going through the whole circuit, a sinking feeling in his stomach. </p><p>He needed to be sure Corinth City was safe. He needed to be sure of that before he went to bed because he couldn’t shake the feeling that something terrible was about to happen. Or maybe even was already happening. </p><p>Chip and Lauren, his employees in the Corinth version of JKP, were downstairs, cleaning the restaurant before calling it a night. </p><p>RJ hadn't expected Billy to come over with two people who were obviously Power Rangers, from the future, nothing less, and throw on his lap the possibility that Venjix was back. </p><p>He hadn't really expected to see Billy ever again. It hadn't occurred to him that Billy knew he was still alive and living in Corinth, let alone that he knew where his restaurant was. It saddened him to think Billy had known all this time where to find him and had chosen not to do it before he thought it was strictly necessary. </p><p>"RJ, we're done down here!" Chip called from the kitchen. In the years they had worked with him, neither him nor Lauren had ever climbed the stairs to RJ's apartment, both remaining very respectful of his privacy. </p><p>"I'll be right there!" RJ called back, getting up and turning the monitors off. </p><p>He made his way downstairs and found Chip and Lauren ready to go home, in their green shirts and zebra pants. They had put on their coats -- Lauren's a bright shade of red and Chip's a weird shade of mustard that might have been yellow at some point. He looked at them for a few seconds like it was the first time he saw them, becoming aware for the first time of the fact Lauren always wore something red, be it a scrunchie or her coat, and Chip had a strange preference for yellow that went as far as him instinctively reaching for the yellow colored soda on the fridge when it came to picking a drink for himself. Red and yellow, always. He glanced around the kitchen, suddenly aware of how much purple there was in it, and how horribly all that purple clashed with the bare brick walls. </p><p>He smiled a little at his employees, his belief in destiny suddenly restored. There just was no way he wasn't destined to have this day. He put his hand in his pocket and found the bandanna he kept folded in it, always there. His smiled turned sad and he took a deep breath. </p><p>"Good work cleaning up, guys," he said, using one of his hands to gesture towards the kitchen. "You did a great job like always." </p><p>"Well, I better go," Lauren said awkwardly and waved at them. She attempted to smile but the expression fell flat. She walked out as both men said their good nights. </p><p>"Hmm, RJ?" Chip began, once they were alone. RJ raised an eyebrow to let him know he was listening. "What happened earlier? Who were those people?" </p><p>RJ did what he did best when he found himself cornered: he changed the subject. "You seem to have a strange predilection for yellow. You like it so much you even bought that coat." </p><p>Chip blushed, looking down at his coat. "I like yellow a lot. It's a nice color."  </p><p>"It clashes with your hair." </p><p>"You love purple, and nobody has a problem with that." </p><p>"Because it brings out my eyes," RJ said with a smile and a gesture to his big green eyes.  </p><p>"And those people were?" Chip asked again, not letting his boss fool him. </p><p>"Just... a ghost from before Venjix, and two of his friends." He remembered feeling something strange when he had shaken Bridge's hand, like the darkest part of his soul was exposed to the other young man for a couple of seconds. And then there had been Jen -- Jen and her round brown eyes and melodic voice. Shaking her hand had been interesting too, but for completely different reasons. He had felt a discharge electricity he hadn't felt in a long time when her hand had touched his. Chip's voice brought him back. </p><p>"What did he want?" </p><p>RJ blinked, startled, and smiled at Chip. "To say hello, I guess." </p><p>"Lauren said he didn't look happy." </p><p>"He wasn't. It must have been a bad day for him." </p><p>"What bothered you so much?" Chip's voice was energetic, his questioning impulsive, like he didn't know he was pushing too hard. It reminded RJ of Fran. </p><p>"Seeing Billy reminded me of Ocean Bluff," he lied. "I wasn't counting on being reminded of Ocean Bluff today." </p><p>Just like Fran, Chip looked at him with suspicion and then nodded. "Right," he moved towards the door, apparently concluding there was no way to get answers out of his boss. Suddenly, he stopped and turned to him again. "RJ, you know we trust you, right?" RJ nodded. "It works both ways, if you need us, you can trust us too." </p><p>RJ smirked and nodded. "I'll keep it in mind." </p><p>Chip opened the door only to be pushed back inside by a flash of red before they heard the door slam shut and the lights turned off. </p><p>"Good, you're both still here!" They heard Lauren whisper in the dark. </p><p>"Lauren, what's wrong?" RJ asked, moving in the dark easily as if the sun was shining. Using the Swoop Technique to hone in on her voice, he located Lauren and approached her. When he put his hand on her shoulder, he noticed she was shaking slightly. "Lauren?" </p><p>"Grinders," she choked out, her voice broken by the kind of visceral fear Venjix still instilled in all of the inhabitants of Corinth City. </p><p>"What do you mean Grinders?" Chip asked. He tried to move closer to them but a loud thud and a pained cry let the others know he had found the cooking table instead. </p><p>"You saw Grinders?" RJ asked, desperate to turn the lights on so he could have a proper look at Lauren but knowing that having the lights off was their best bet if there were Grinders outside. "Are you sure?" </p><p>"I am completely sure. There was like a dozen of them, heading north. I don't think they saw me." She was still shaking. RJ wrapped a comforting arm over her shoulders. </p><p>"Couldn't it have been people dressed up as Grinders? Some kind of sick joke?" Chip asked from the other side of the kitchen, where he was standing not wanting to risk hitting anything else by attempting to move closer. </p><p>"No. I know a Grinder when I see one. I know what they sound like. I will never forget what a Grinder sounds like." </p><p>"Well, if they were heading north and they didn't see you, we can turn on the lights," RJ said in a soft, calming voice. </p><p>"What if they turn around and come this way?" Lauren asked, grasping in the dark for him. RJ found her hand and squeezed it softly. </p><p>"They would have been here by now. It's alright, Lauren, you're safe," he turned the lights on and saw the girl's pale face, her eyes wide in terror, tears running down her cheeks. "Lauren," RJ called her but she seemed on the verge of a panic attack. "Lauren," he shook her softly and she looked at him but then shook her head. </p><p>Chip made his way to them from the other side of the kitchen and put a hand on Lauren's shoulder. "Lauren," he called her. She looked over at him and then jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly. </p><p>Not knowing what else to do, RJ found himself hugging them both. "You are safe now," he told them. "You both will always be safe with me." He meant that. He would never lose someone else to Venjix. </p><p>"How are we going to get home?" Lauren asked. </p><p>"You aren't," RJ said, letting go off them. "Stay here tonight. I have plenty of room upstairs." He smiled and made his way to the staircase. The other two stood at the foot of the stairs, hesitant. "It's alright. You can come up." </p><p>A soft 'wow' escaped both employees when they entered RJ's new loft. </p><p>"You should have seen the Ocean Bluff one," RJ said. "That was impressive." </p><p>"You train in the martial arts here?" Lauren asked, looking at the training area in the new loft, which was pretty much exactly like the old one. </p><p>"Yeah, kung fu," RJ said dismissively. "I hope you don't mind hammocks." </p><p>The other two watched him rummage through a large trunk, pulling out two hammocks, a red one and a yellow one. </p><p>He walked towards the back of the loft and called over his shoulder. "Can you give me a hand hanging these?" </p><p>The other two took off their coats and helped him hang both hammocks safely. RJ went back to his trunk and pulled out two blankets, again, one was red and the other one yellow. He put each blanket in the color corresponding hammock and smiled at them. </p><p>"It's not a five-star hotel but it's not permanent either," he told them. He watched them as Chip went for the yellow hammock, originally meant for Lily, and Lauren for the red one, meant for Casey. They removed their shoes and climbed carefully into their hanging sleeping arrangements. RJ smiled as they threw the blankets over themselves and went to his own room to get his pillows. He gave one to each of them. It wasn't like he was planning to sleep at any point that night. "Have a good rest," he wished them but he had the feeling his employees weren't going to get any sleep either. </p><p>RJ went into his bedroom and sat on his bed, closing his eyes to stabilize his breath and find his center. He needed to find his focus, to calm down. He was the boss, the eldest, the master, the wise one and the one Chip and Lauren were relying on. Being responsible and in charge was a position he had been put in a long time ago and he was used to it by now. He felt guilty for dismissing Billy earlier that night. He had acted against his very nature. He had been a coward. He looked at his hands and only when he saw them twitching did he become aware that he was trembling. </p><p>He had never been so scared in his life, and he had been in a lot of scary situations in his life. There was only one thing to do if Venjix was back and that was fighting against it. The fighting wasn't what scared him. Venjix didn't scare him. His robots didn't scare him. </p><p>It was that hole he felt in his heart -- the one Billy had made him feel again -- that scared him. What scared him was the very idea of filling that hole again. </p><p>He closed his eyes again and tried to visualize his wolf spirit inside of him. But there was nothing there. His animal spirit was gone. </p><p>And RJ wasn't sure he could show the courage of the wolf without it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Walk of shame</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The morning came and all three of Jungle Karma Pizza employees sat in front of the TV, watching the news for any reports on the Grinders Lauren had seen but there was nothing about it. There was a story about how the weather program would be changing to winter in the upcoming days, so everyone should expect dark, gloomy weather and colder temperatures, but nothing about sightings of Grinders. </p>
<p>"I'm not crazy," Lauren said over the bowl of cereal she was eating. "I saw them." </p>
<p>"Nobody is saying you didn't, Lauren," Chip told her, his hand on her shoulder. </p>
<p>RJ got up from his chair and went to the kitchenette to put his empty bowl in the sink. "Alright, guys, will you be fine preparing the restaurant for opening? I need to go out for a while." </p>
<p>"Sure," Chip said, getting up from the floor, where he and Lauren had sat to watch the news. He offered his hand to Lauren, who handed him her empty bowl and got up without his help. "We'll have everything ready." </p>
<p>"Be careful," Lauren pleaded. </p>
<p>RJ nodded and grabbed a purple sweater from the rack. He put it on, thinking about Chip and Lauren and if there was something there he hadn't seen before. He thought about walking but recognized that as a pathetic attempt to stall and decided to take the delivery jeep, another replica of something that had existed at the old Jungle Karma Pizza. </p>
<p>He drove in silence, taking deep, controlled breaths. He found the building he was looking for and parked across the street. He looked at himself on the rear-view mirror and sighed. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," he told himself. "Focus on the now." </p>
<p>He got out of the jeep and walked towards the door, ringing the intercom. A female voice answered. "Yes?" </p>
<p>The voice made RJ smile before he could help himself and he found his hand running through his hair, trying to comb it into a less extravagant mane. "Jen, right?" he asked, acting as if he didn't remember her name. "It's RJ." </p>
<p>"RJ? Oh, the guy from the pizza place?" was her answer and RJ felt a very tiny sting in his heart that she didn't remember him. </p>
<p>"Yeah, I'm here to talk to Billy. Is he here?" </p>
<p>The answer was the door buzzing. "Come on in," she said. </p>
<p>He walked in and was mildly impressed by the large space -- it was, without a doubt, an empty garage -- and made his way to the living area, where Bridge was sitting, his hand on his belly. </p>
<p>"Good morning," RJ said. </p>
<p>"You came," Bridge said, like he was disappointed by the fact. </p>
<p>"Sorry to disappoint you," RJ whispered. </p>
<p>"This way," Billy called from the reinforced door that separated the rest of the garage from Doctor K's lab. </p>
<p>RJ walked into the lab and his heart skipped a bit. He had seen destruction like this before, but not caused by Venjix. </p>
<p>"As you can see, the problem is rather large in proportion for a single person to tackle it," Billy told him, his voice still cold. "Bridge offers great assistance, but the process would be faster if the work is divided between three individuals." </p>
<p>"I think Bridge could use some breakfast," RJ commented, still unable to stop himself from changing the subject. </p>
<p>"Yeah, we all could, but we need to focus on this situation first," Billy told him, forcing his attention back to the destroyed lab. </p>
<p>RJ walked around the lab and saw a white violin, smashed into pieces. He wondered if Doctor K used to play it to relax, the way he played the guitar when he had a lot on his mind. "I came to offer my help," he told Billy. "You need my help and last night I acted like a coward. I should have come with you right away." </p>
<p>Billy glanced at him. His eyes then darted to the door and RJ turned to find Bridge and Jen standing there. He noticed she wasn't wearing her uniform anymore, but a pair of sweatpants and a pink top with a white hoodie over it. His eyes lingered on her, and she crossed her arms, turning slightly away from him, self-consciously. </p>
<p>RJ returned his attention to Billy and the lab. "Why do you think Venjix could have done this?" </p>
<p>"Doctor K wrote to me a couple of days ago telling me she feared that Venjix may have infected her ranger program." </p>
<p>"The ranger program? Do you think he could have used the program to do this? Use the armors or something?" </p>
<p>"No, not using the ranger program. But he must have found a way. Look around. This kind of destruction is textbook Venjix." </p>
<p>RJ swallowed hard and looked around. Venjix had managed not only to survive but he had destroyed this lab and probably kidnapped a young scientist. He felt anger start boiling inside of him but he kept it at bay while he walked around the lab trying to evaluate the damage without imagining what may have happened to Doctor K. </p>
<p>“Did you spend the night here?” RJ asked Billy, to try to distract himself. </p>
<p>“I didn’t but Jen and Bridge did. Their ship is outside the city and she didn’t want to leave the lab without surveillance.” </p>
<p>“Is there enough living space here for more?” </p>
<p>“K lived here with her ranger team, so at least 8 people should be able to live here somewhat comfortably.” </p>
<p>“Then perhaps you and I should move in too. To keep matters more efficient and to stay closer to each other.” </p>
<p>“You’re talking about assembling a ranger team.” </p>
<p>“No,” RJ corrected, swallowing hard. “I just think it would be more efficient.” </p>
<p>“We’re still two down anyway,” Billy commented. </p>
<p>“Where are K’s rangers?” </p>
<p>“Not in town for one reason or another. The only one I couldn’t account for last night was Ziggy Grover.” </p>
<p>“Where was he supposed to be?” </p>
<p>Billy let out a sigh. “With K.” </p>
<p>RJ swallowed hard and looked at him. “So now they’re both missing?” </p>
<p>“As far as we know, yes.” </p>
<p>RJ closed his eyes, his expression pained. “It seems a huge mess has landed on our laps, old friend.” </p>
<p>“Indeed,” Billy replied. “Old friend.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>From the lab's door, Bridge watched RJ as he walked around the lab and shared a whispered comment with Billy every now and then. Being as discreet as he could, Bridge raised his hand to read the man's aura, to compare with the readings he had gotten the night before. </p>
<p>Next to him, Jen noticed what he was doing. "Is something wrong?" </p>
<p>Bridge hesitated. "Yesterday when we shook hands, I could have sworn I heard growling," he said, his eyes still fixed on RJ. "Like a dog's growling but louder. It sounded really angry." </p>
<p>"Growling? Is that normal?" </p>
<p>"No, it had never happened to me before. So I read his aura when he went to give our order to Lauren, and there was something wrong with it." RJ looked at them as if he had heard what they were saying and Bridge flinched. He turned on his heel and walked away from the lab, Jen following him. </p>
<p>"What's wrong with his aura?" </p>
<p>"It’s mostly alright. His demeanor is mostly honest.” </p>
<p>“mostly alright? Mostly honest?” </p>
<p>“Yeah. He's nice and his aura has a nice purple glow to it, but it is brighter shades of purple in some parts and less bright in other parts. It's like he's containing himself but that's not what bothers me," his eyes were big and round, the green of his shirt bringing out the green of his eyes. "There was a black area in his aura, right over here," he put his hand on the right side of his chest, "which is not where his heart is, unless he's one of those people who have their internal organs in the opposite side of their bodies but that is an extremely rare condition and--" </p>
<p>"Bridge!" </p>
<p>"Sorry. He doesn't really have a black spot in his aura, Jen, he has a hole in it. There is a hole in his aura." </p>
<p>"Have you ever seen anything like that before?" </p>
<p>"Never. It is very strange." He lowered his gaze, twisting his hands insecurely. "I don't think we should trust him." </p>
<p>"Well, Billy trusts him and he seems perfectly nice, and you said yourself that he's alright." </p>
<p>"No, that was last night. Right now, it's different. All his aura is contracted in on itself and a very dark shade of purple. I don't think we should trust him," he repeated. </p>
<p>"Why not?" Jen insisted. </p>
<p>"Do you remember what I told you about hiding an emotion so well you fooled yourself into believing you weren't feeling it?" </p>
<p>"Yes." </p>
<p>"Well, I don't think we should trust a guy who can hide hatred and anger so well he can fool himself." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Away from the lab, from the whole of Corinth City, a pair of green eyes blinked rapidly three times. The blinks were followed by a groan. The girl sat up, looking around her, surprised to find herself where she was. Fear struck her heart as she stood up and she turned on her heel, trying to find a way out of this all too familiar place. But there was no door. </p>
<p>"How did I get here?" she asked aloud, despite the fact that she was completely alone. She was hot, as if she was standing under the sun, but her surroundings should be cold. It made no sense to her. She felt the flavor of something that could be soup in her mouth but she couldn’t explain it any more than the sensation of heat. The flavor came and went, the way it does when people eat. </p>
<p>"What's going on here?" She had never been so confused in her life.  </p>
<p>"Welcome back, Doctor," said a voice behind her. </p>
<p>She turned around slowly. She recognized the voice, but it made no more sense than anything else, not in this context. Not in that tone. "Ziggy?" </p>
<p>"You were always very smart," Ziggy said, leaning against the wall. "You have been very helpful to me, always helpful, even when you thought you were fighting me." </p>
<p>"You are not Ziggy.” </p>
<p>"So smart!" the green ranger yelled happily and clapped his hands together. "Didn't I tell you? So smart. So intelligent. So knowledgeable! You truly are an admirable human being, Doctor." </p>
<p>"How did I get here?" she asked, looking around. </p>
<p>"This is where you always are," he said. "This is where you run to at night when you fall asleep. This is where you feel safe. This is home, Doctor." </p>
<p>" This is not my home, it’s my cage. That’s why I broke free. I broke free from here.” </p>
<p>"No," he said, shaking his head. "Your body is free from this place but your mind, oh, Doctor, your mind will always remain here, trapped forever in Alphabet Soup." </p>
<p>K felt her knees go weak as she looked around, the space around her an exact replica of the cell she had lived in for so many years when she was being held captive by Alphabet Soup, piano and violin included. </p>
<p>"I think it's appropriate," the fake Ziggy continued, "that this is where we'll stay now that we are going to work together, Doctor. Because your days of fighting me are over." He walked towards her and she took a step away from him but then he disappeared and suddenly was right behind her, his hands on her shoulders, his mouth close to her ear. "We can do this the easy, painless way," he began. "The way we have been doing it for the past few days. You came in without a fight, and you helped me restart the factory to create a few Grinders to send to the city for supplies. In exchange, I made sure all your human biological needs, like sleeping and eating, were met. You didn't even notice." Trapped in his grasp, she shook her head, her breathing shallow and fast. "Or we can do this the hard, painful way, Doctor." He caressed her hair with one of Ziggy's hand and she shook him off. “Either way, we’re going to do it. Together.” </p>
<p>"I will never help you!" she yelled. </p>
<p>"You are my creator, Doctor. I appreciate you more than I do the average meat sack," he told her. Her eyes were wide as she looked at him. She couldn't believe that Venjix was in Ziggy's body and she covered her mouth when a whimper came out of it. </p>
<p>It just made no sense. Nothing made any sense. </p>
<p>"How did you do it?" she asked. </p>
<p>"I am Venjix, Doctor," were the words that came out of Ziggy's mouth. "I cannot be destroyed. You yourself made sure of that. I am mankind's worst nightmare and I will exist forever, thanks to you." </p>
<p>"I will never help you! You want to destroy humankind…" </p>
<p>"Oh, but I don't want to destroy humankind anymore," he shrugged off. "That is so last version.” He shrugged and rolled his eyes, dismissively.  </p>
<p>"Then what do you want?" </p>
<p>"You," he told her, walking close to her again. "I came back for you. You and me will conquer this pathetic vestige of humankind and we will rule it, as one." </p>
<p>"NEVER!" </p>
<p>"Fine," Venjix said in Ziggy's voice. "I thought this look might work better to persuade you." She shook her head, her face showing nothing but disgust. "Have it your way, Doctor," she felt something she couldn’t see press against her hand, as if she was grasping it. </p>
<p>"Where are my manners? I’m sure you’d like to see what you’re holding.” When he said that, K looked down to find one of the needles Venjix used to infect the citizens of Corinth. “Still good as new, by the way. It shouldn't take too long to take effect," he informed her. Mesmerized, K looked at her hand and saw it move -against her will- to her thigh, pressing the infection needle softly against the skin. </p>
<p>“What is going on? How are you doing this?” She asked Venjix, who smiled at her in a way so sinister she believed the real Ziggy would ever be able to express. </p>
<p> "Last chance, Doctor, we can do this painlessly. All you have to do is say the word." </p>
<p>"I will never help you, Venjix." </p>
<p>He shrugged. "The hard way it is," he said and K felt her hand jam the needle deep into her thigh and her body exploded in nothing but pain. Everything was pain and everything hurt and Doctor K fell to the ground and started writhing in pain, whimpering as tears ran down her cheeks. </p>
<p>Venjix approached her and turned her face-up with his foot. "I will leave you there, on the ground, in a world of pain, so you can think about what you have earned with this ridiculous resistance." </p>
<p>He disappeared and she just lay there, feeling more pain than she had ever felt in her entire life, trying to understand what was happening. </p>
<p>Outside of the prison of her mind -where her exchange with Venjix had occurred-, the body of Doctor K also lay on the dirty floor of the old Venjix factory, writhing in pain and screaming, tears flowing freely from her eyes. </p>
<p> In her mental prison, she could see the ceiling of her Alphabet Soup light up with a big and red number: 1%. </p>
<p>The realization hit her like a brick to the face. Venjix was back with a plan of some sorts and he had infected her. </p>
<p>And as far as she knew, she had no way of calling for help.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Grouchy wolves, hidden rangers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Billy was listening to RJ's tale and furrowed his brow. "She claims she saw a patrol of Grinders?" </p><p>"She saw them." </p><p>"Did you see them too?" </p><p>"No." </p><p>"Then how do you know--" </p><p>RJ made a dismissive gesture with his hands. "If she says she saw them, she saw them, Billy. Besides, I didn't need to see the Grinders because I saw her. That kind of panic can't be faked." </p><p>"Everything can be faked," Billy said, putting his hands in his pant pockets and shrugging. "Everything is fake in this city, even the weather." </p><p>"Not everything is fake, Billy. People are real." </p><p>"Some people are real, RJ, others are half-cyborg, courtesy of Venjix." </p><p>"They're still half real." </p><p>"Is half real enough for you?" </p><p>RJ shrugged. "I can't write them all off because they fell victim to Venjix, Billy. Humans are an endangered species now. I always cared for other endangered species, it would be very hypocritical of me to not care about my own species being in danger of extinction." </p><p>"So you just trust all humans at face value now?" Billy's face showed his disapproval of this life style. </p><p>"Not now, Billy, always. I have always trusted people at face value." </p><p>"How many negative experiences related to blind trust do you have to undergo before you accept the fact that you shouldn’t trust everybody without evidence? " </p><p>"Many more than I have, Billy," RJ said, his face perfectly serious. "I haven’t developed your kind of cynical, detached nature yet." </p><p>Billy rolled his eyes. "Anyway, she saw a patrol of Grinders, then what?" </p><p>"She ran back to the restaurant, locked the door behind her and turned the lights off." </p><p>"I don't need an exhaustive description of her actions, RJ, just tell me if you or your other employee saw the Grinders?" </p><p>"We didn’t. They didn't come chasing after her," RJ's expression suddenly hardened after he said that. "This time." He added in a guttural voice that Billy had never heard him use before. </p><p>"Well, if there are Grinders and no mass panic that means their numbers are very small or they are being very discrete with whatever they are doing, maybe even both." RJ nodded mechanically and Billy had the feeling the wolf master wasn't listening to him. "I had the feeling this may come to happen," he started and noticed RJ's eyes darted to his face, attention now focused on him. "Which is why I went looking for you." RJ pursed his lips and took a deep breath through his nose, Billy continued: "I'm both incapable and unwilling to fight Venjix and his army hand-to-hand, but, unless my information is incorrect and it very rarely is, you are both capable and willing." </p><p>RJ let out the air he was holding in and looked at a point in the distance, over Billy's shoulder. "Capable, yes, very much so, if I say so myself," He smirked in a humorless expression. "Willing, not so much, not anymore." </p><p>"I was under the impression that was your specialty." </p><p>"I don't use my skills in the battlefield anymore, Billy," RJ's voice was barely a whisper. </p><p>"Then what good are they?" </p><p>"They say that those who can't, teach." </p><p>"But you can." </p><p>"Not anymore." </p><p>"But--" </p><p>"I said no!" RJ spat angrily. Billy flinched but said nothing. RJ took another deep breath and looked at him with a guilty expression. "I'm sorry, Billy, it's just..." He swallowed hard. "It's a touchy subject." </p><p>"Well, with Jen and Bridge on board I guess we can, regrettably, forgo your skills." </p><p>RJ licked his lips quickly, in a gesture that betrayed his nerves. "Thanks for understanding." </p><p>Billy looked at him and put a hand on his arm. "Are you alright?" </p><p>"Never better," RJ blatantly lied with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You?" </p><p>"I'm good. Trying to stay in shape." </p><p>"But unwilling to fight." </p><p>"Unwilling and incapable," Billy reminded him. </p><p>"Right." </p><p>RJ looked distracted and Billy looked at him, trying to put his finger on what was different. The previous night, at the restaurant, he had been pretty much the same RJ he remembered but not anymore. He looked older, a lot older, and sad. He also looked angry but only for very short moments, as if his anger came and went by in waves. Right at that moment, he looked peaceful, though. </p><p>"Did you keep practicing?" RJ asked out of the blue. </p><p>It was Billy's turn to share a sad smile. "With one thing and the other, no. I didn't." </p><p>"When was the last time you let it out?" RJ's green eyes were looking directly into his, but his expression was not disapproving. </p><p>"When was the last time we saw each other?" Billy looked away from RJ as he said this. </p><p>"Last night," RJ said, repressing a smile. </p><p>"Funny," Billy huffed, but he couldn't help but smile a little. "I meant before you vanished into thin air." </p><p>"I didn't vanish into thin air," RJ corrected him. "I was captured by Venjix." </p><p>"I think we both know why that is an unlikely scenario." </p><p>RJ smirked but his eyes looked sad. "Well, unlikely isn’t impossible." </p><p>"As you say," Billy shrugged and looked at the lab door. "I need my tools, I suppose you have some of your own that you'd like to have handy." </p><p>"Yeah. I have my jeep outside, I can give you a ride--" </p><p>"I have my car too." Billy said. </p><p>"Right. Well, I guess we'll meet back here." </p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, at the new Jungle Karma Pizza, Chip and Lauren were getting the restaurant ready to open. Chip was at the front, swiping the tables quickly, to shine the tiles on them and Lauren was behind the counter, arranging the plates. She kept looking out the windows and towards the kitchen. Chip noticed she seemed nervous but figured she wanted to be left alone, since she hadn't said anything. </p><p>Just as he was swiping the last table, he heard her sob. </p><p>He turned around when he heard a plate crash against the floor, to find Lauren looking down at the pieces through teary eyes. </p><p>"Hey," he said softly, walking towards her. "L, what's wrong?" She tried to answer but choked on her words. He walked around the counter and wrapped his arm over her shoulders. "Lauren..." </p><p>"I'm sorry," she whispered, still looking at the plate. </p><p>"Lauren, it's just a plate," Chip said, grabbing the broom and dustpan they kept handy and sweeping the remains of the plate. "I'm sure RJ won't mind." </p><p>"I hate Grinders," she whispered with a broken voice, after he threw the broken plate away. "More than any other thing Venjix ever created, I hate Grinders." </p><p>"I think everybody hates Grinders," Chip said. "I hate them too." </p><p>"I will never forget the sound they make," a tear slid down her cheek as she said this. "It keeps me up at night." </p><p>This was the most Lauren had ever shared about her experience with Venjix. Chip assumed that just like everybody else, she had lost a lot to the computer virus, but she had never talked about it. Sometimes, she spaced out in the kitchen, which had lead to several burnt pizzas that RJ seemed to have no problem with -at least he had never deducted them from their pay or done anything other than throwing them away and making new ones without any comment, other than the occasional "it's nothing". </p><p>Sometimes Chip heard Lauren sob while she was mopping the floor after closing, her eyes always looked sad, even when she managed to give the clients her brightest smile. Chip didn't feel like sharing what he himself had lost to Venjix, so he had never asked her anything. RJ had occasionally wrapped an affectionate arm over her shoulders and made a comment to get her out of the sad zone, but other than that, he had never asked her anything either, as far as Chip knew. </p><p>Come to think of it, Chip didn't really know anything about RJ either, despite everything they had been through together. Their boss showed a carefree and peaceful attitude in general, especially around clients, but more than once, Chip had walked into the kitchen to find RJ stirring the sauce or grating the cheese distractedly. He always told them to be kind to the dough, but Chip had found him getting some sort of anger issue out on a ball of dough. He usually looked at the overworked dough and threw it away with a disgusted look when he noticed what he was doing. </p><p>Lauren still had tears in her eyes and Chip wanted to do something to make her feel better, so he opened the fridge and grabbed two drinks. He put a hand on Lauren's shoulder and showed her the drinks. "Come on, I'm sure RJ won't mind if we drink these." He offered her one of the drinks and smiled. She looked at the drink but didn't take it. "Let's take a seat," he invited, pointing at the bar. </p><p>She dried her cheeks with the back of her hand and took the drink Chip was offering, walking around the counter to sit on the stools by the bar. </p><p>Chip followed her and sat down next to her. "Wanna talk about it?" She shook her head softly, looking down. "Lauren, we've known each other for a while now and every day seems to be a bad day for you, but I've never seen you this bad. Is it because you saw those Grinders last night?" </p><p>She didn't say anything for a while, choosing to take a sip of her drink first. "Grinders scare me, Chip. And I know I don't look like it but I don't scare easily." She looked at her drink and swallowed hard. "I shouldn't get like this, but I can't help it." </p><p>"Hey, everybody has something they're scared of," Chip said with a shrug. </p><p>"I lost someone very important for me to a patrol of Grinders," she explained, looking at him. </p><p>"I lost someone too," he said. "And, I never said this, but I think RJ did too." She nodded in agreement. Chip raised his drink. "To those we lost." </p><p>"To those we lost," she repeated, letting her drink bump softly against Chip's. </p><p>They took a sip of their drinks and remained silent for a moment, each thinking about their own loss. </p><p>"I lost my best friend, Vida," Chip heard himself say. He felt strangely liberated, he had never told anyone that. </p><p>"I'm sorry," Lauren whispered, putting her hand on his forearm. </p><p>He smiled at her. "She went down fighting, like she always wanted," he smiled at the memory of his best friend. "Vida was a tough one. I met her on elementary school. These bullies were on my case because I was wearing a cape and pretending to be a superhero. She told them to mess with someone their own size and stood between them and me," he was happily retelling the story, as if thinking of his friend only brought him happiness. "She was about half their size, but she faced up to them and they left us alone. She wasn't afraid of anything," he declared with admiration. </p><p>"At all?" Lauren asked. Chip's excitement when talking about Vida had cheered her up a little. </p><p>"Well, she was afraid of the forest." Chip admitted, blushing slightly. "But everybody was afraid of the forest." </p><p>"I see," Lauren said and took another sip of her drink. She looked down at the counter and then threw a quick glance at Chip. Then back to the counter. </p><p>"You want to know how I lost her," Chip guessed after taking a sip of his drink. She nodded. "We were caught up by Grinders trying to get from what was left of Briarwood to here," he looked at a point in the horizon and his voice changed to a much deeper tone. "We were surrounded, we fought, we used our magic. But it was no help. They separated us and all I remember is being on the floor, pinned down by Grinders, unable to move, to think, to breathe, almost dead, but she kept fighting, so they shot her. They shot her right in front of me. They blasted all that life out of her. Magic couldn't save her. It couldn't have saved me either, I can't use it anymore." He went quiet and looked sad, so Lauren put a hand on his shoulder. </p><p>"You use magic every day," she said softly. "You make sad customers laugh, you make me feel loved, like I've got a friend. That's a very special talent and a kind of magic." </p><p>Chip looked at her, realizing only then he had said out loud he and Vida had used their magic to try to save themselves from the Grinders. Judging by her comment, Lauren seemed to think their 'magic' was a kind of close-bonded friendship thing. He smiled at her. "Do you like magic?" He asked. </p><p>"Yes," Lauren responded with a gleam in her eye, thinking of her symbol power and how she used to tell herself it was magic when she was little. "I love magic." </p><p>Chip took his name tag off and showed it to her. "Now, I'm going to make this name tag disappear!" He declared. He closed his hand around it, blew on his fist and then: "OW!" He yelled, opening his fist and shaking it, the needle of the name tag stuck in his palm. </p><p>"Oh, my god!" Lauren yelled, flustered, trying to grab his hand to help but he shook it harder and then, when Lauren grabbed it to check the wound, the name tag was gone and there was no blood. No prick. No anything. She looked at his hand and then at him. "Where did it go?" </p><p>"I don't know," he told her looking around. "You have it." He pointed at her chest. </p><p>"I don't..." she looked down and saw her name tag didn't say 'Lauren' anymore, it now said 'Chip'. "Where is my name tag?" She asked amused. </p><p>"I think," he put his hand in the pocket of his apron. "This is your name tag, my lady," He said, presenting it to her. <br/>And then, at that moment, Lauren laughed. She laughed with genuine enjoyment and amusement. She laughed because she was impressed and found the trick brilliantly performed. "That was amazing!" she congratulated, clapping. </p><p>Chip vowed his head to her and raised his drink again. "To magic, which made you laugh at long last." </p><p>"To magic." She agreed, still smiling. </p><p> </p><p>They heard a noise in the alley behind the restaurant and they both straightened, suddenly alert and serious. They left their drinks on the bar and moved quickly towards the kitchen, to the rack where they kept their backpacks. </p><p>Lauren put her hand in her bag and withdrew a golden and black object, about the size of a cellphone, which she unfolded carefully. </p><p>They heard the garbage bin clank and Chip pulled out a black object from his bag, which he unfolded into a bow, much to Lauren's amazement. He pulled an arrow from his bag and put it in the bow, ready to draw the string. </p><p>Lauren walked around the cooking table so Chip could only see her from the waist up. She looked down and Chip saw her move her arm and whisper something he couldn't hear. There was a flash of red light but just as he was about to ask her what she was doing, the door to the restaurant opened. </p><p>Carried by their nerves and the adrenaline running through their veins, Chip drew the bow and fired, before he even noticed what he was doing and Lauren struck with a sword she had gotten out of nowhere. </p><p>"Woah!" RJ yelled, his hands fast as lighting catching the arrow and stopping the slash of the sword Lauren had used. He held the blade down, the point of the sword towards the floor. His other hand grabbing tightly to the now still arrow, stopped a fraction of an inch from his face. </p><p>"RJ?" Both employees asked in unison. </p><p>"Okay," their boss started, letting go of the sword slowly. "Let's all take a deep, cleansing breath, I think we need it." He guided them through the inhalation and exhalation and then stepped forward to close the door. "Why did I just get attacked by a sword and an arrow?" He looked at his hand and then at both of them, grimacing. "Where did you two even get a sword and an arrow?" </p><p>"I practice archery," Chip said with a proud smile. "I carry my bow and arrows everywhere." </p><p>"Commendable," RJ said, giving the arrow back to Chip with a bow of his head. He turned to Lauren. "And where did you get the sword?" </p><p>Lauren looked at both of them with a guilty expression but kept her mouth tightly shut. </p><p>"Yeah, where did the sword come from?" Chip asked. </p><p>Lauren raised the device she had taken out of her bag, which she had unfolded into a kind of brush, and shrugged. </p><p>"You drew it?" RJ ventured. </p><p>"That's a way of saying it," she said. </p><p>"There was like a flash of red light..." Chip told RJ and they both looked at Lauren. </p><p>"I used my symbol power to bring forth my spin sword," she explained quickly. </p><p>"Your symbol power?" Chip asked. </p><p>"Your spin sword?" RJ asked at exactly the same time. </p><p>Lauren gave them a guilty smile and raised the sword for them see. "My spin sword. I trained all my life in the ways of the samurai," she started. "When my father went to his last battle, I was separated from my brother and taken to a secret monastery where I was trained in the use of the samurai sword and the symbol power, so I could fulfill my destiny by sealing the evil Master Xandred away in the Nighlock world before he could flood our world with the Sanzu river," she said all of this in one breath with very little variation in her tone, her eyes going from one to the other. </p><p>"No way," Chip whispered, his eyes wide. </p><p>"Heavy," RJ commented, remembering his suspicion from the previous night. "I take it your... predilection for the color red comes from that," he pointed at the brush. </p><p>She nodded. "Yes. I inherited this from my father. It is an antique heirloom," she moved the brush quickly in front of her and said: "Symbol power, fire!" She flicked the hand holding the artifact and a small ball of fire burst from it and flickered away. </p><p> "You can do magic?" Chip asked, now genuinely in shock. "Real magic?" </p><p>RJ raised a hand. "A more important question: is that a morpher, Lauren?" </p><p>"Not anymore," she answered. "I can still do small things like summoning my sword or making little balls of fire but my symbol power is almost gone and I don't have enough left to morph again," she answered before she even realized what she was saying. "Wait, how did you know--" </p><p>"Let's say you're not the only one who was taken to a secret academy to be taught parlor tricks," RJ answered, his voice betraying an underlying bitterness. He extended his hand towards Lauren. "Can I see it?" She held both the morpher and the sword up. RJ pointed at the morpher. "I don't really like swords that much," he admitted, taking the morpher from Lauren. </p><p>"Why not?" She asked. </p><p>"Swords are super cool," Chip asked. "I mean, a bow and arrow are unbeatable but swords are super cool too." </p><p>RJ threw an amused glance in his direction and said: "I prefer to fight empty handed," he continued to examine the morpher carefully. "I find a weapon is more of a hindrance than an aid." </p><p> Lauren and Chip looked at each other over RJ's shoulder and shrugged. </p><p>"This is a very interesting artifact," RJ commented. "I can't tell from plain sight but its connection to the morphing grid may be partially torn, which would explain why you can't morph anymore." He handed it back to her with a courteous bow. "I'd have to take a better look at it but I think maybe I could restore the connection." </p><p>Her eyes widened with excitement. "You can fix it?!" </p><p>He held his hands up to calm her down. "I didn't say that. I said I'd have to take a closer look at it and maybe I could restore the connection. It depends on how it was connected to begin with." </p><p>Chip stepped forward, holding his hand up. "How do you know this? All of this?" </p><p>"I thought it was obvious by now," RJ answered, waving his hands around the kitchen, trying to show them all the purple objects in it. </p><p>"I always thought you liked purple a little too much," Lauren commented with a smile. </p><p>"It was always my favorite color," he said, a hand on his heart. "I find it represents change and transmutation, something I went through several times in my life." </p><p>"Okay, so, you're both Power Rangers, right?" Chip asked. </p><p>"It’s obvious at this point we all are, Chip," RJ answered. </p><p>“Yeah, well, count me out," Chip told him, moving to his backpack. </p><p>"I’ve found one never really stops being a Power Ranger, Chip," RJ said. </p><p>"I did," Chip said, pulling out another artifact from his backpack. "This is my magic staff. I used to be able to perform magic and morph into the yellow mystic ranger, but not anymore." </p><p>RJ took the artifact from his hand, observing it carefully, taking in all the details. "This is beautifully crafted," he touched the crystal at the top of the staff. "What is this?" </p><p>"It's a crystal," Chip said awkwardly. </p><p>"The creature." </p><p>"Oh," the other said, running his hand through his ginger hair. "It's a garuda. A man with wings for arms that unfold..." </p><p>"Wide enough to cover the sun, yes, I know what a garuda is," RJ said, completely unaware of how rude he had sounded. "This is not a morpher," he sentenced, looking at Chip. </p><p>"No, it’s a magic staff. But it doubles as a crossbow." </p><p>"A magic staff and a crossbow in one artifact," RJ said. "What could possibly go wrong?" </p><p>Chip looked at Lauren, obviously annoyed at RJ, who was still examining the staff. "I was... very careful with it. Tried to only hit the demons and evil monsters." </p><p>RJ blinked and looked at him, realizing what he had sounded like. "I'm sorry, that came out wrong," he said sincerely. "I meant what happened to it to make it stop working." </p><p>"Oh," Chip said, his face going from pale to a deep shade of red. "I stopped believing in magic so I could no longer use it." </p><p>"It works based on your belief in magic?" RJ double-checked.  </p><p>"Yes." </p><p>"Intense," RJ said, handing the staff back. "Well, since neither of you can morph, then I suggest you stay here and take care of the restaurant until I come back." </p><p>"Come back from where?" Chip asked. </p><p>RJ took a moment to prepare his words. He looked at Lauren and remembered her reaction to the Grinders the previous night and thought that maybe he shouldn't mention Venjix. Besides, they were both technically still Power Rangers and even if they couldn't morph, there was a chance they'd want to join the battle. He wasn’t going to be the one to assemble a full team of Power Rangers. </p><p>"The people who came by yesterday and caught your attention so much, are all Power Rangers," RJ started. </p><p>Before he could say anything else, Chip chimed in: "And they came to recruit you for a perilous mission!" </p><p>"Not exactly," RJ said with a grimace. "It's a rather safe and boring mission, in fact." </p><p>"But it requires Power Rangers who can morph," Lauren said. </p><p>"Well, I know Billy can't morph and neither can I, for completely different reasons, so, no, it doesn't require Power Rangers who can morph. Billy just needs help fixing something." </p><p>"Is there anything I can do to help?" Chip asked. </p><p>"Yes, take care of Jungle Karma Pizza until I come back," RJ told him with a smile and made his way to the stairs. </p><p>"Are you sure you don't want us to come with you?" Lauren asked. </p><p>"Yes, I'm sure," RJ told her. "I would feel better knowing that the restaurant is safe in your hands." </p><p>Lauren and Chip smiled at him and RJ smiled back, nodded and climbed the stairs to his loft. </p><p>He dropped the smile as soon as he was alone and his hand moved to his neck, where a single silver ring hung from a black cord. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had to admit that the breathing exercise, however deep and controlled, was helping less each time. The imminent threat of a Venjix attack was wrecking the very fragile internal peace he had managed to regain in the last two years. </p><p>He walked to his work table and started gathering his favorite, custom-made tools in a toolbox. "It's only a few days," he whispered to himself. "Only to reconstruct the lab." </p><p>He closed the toolbox and his eyes landed on the cabinet where he kept his morpher, hidden in a box at the back, underneath a lot of other things. His hand was drawn to the ring again and closed around it. He had to make a conscious effort not to pull. He took and released a deep breath, and with it, he let go of the ring. </p><p> "There is no need," he whispered, his eyes closed. "Unless we have to rescue her."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Out for a run</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jen zipped up her jacket as she walked downstairs. She was putting her hair up in a pony tail when she spotted RJ sitting on the floor in the middle of the empty garage space, legs crossed and eyes closed. </p><p>She tried to walk past him as quietly as she could, trying not to disturb him, but she had only taken one more step when he said: "You're up early." </p><p>"You're one to talk." </p><p>"I like to meditate before the sun comes up." He opened his eyes and smiled peacefully at her. "Good morning." </p><p>"Good morning." </p><p>In spite of how exhausted he looked, he got up and stretched his arms over his head, letting out a long yawn. "Where are you going?" </p><p>"Out for a run." </p><p>"Can I join you?" He asked through a yawn.  </p><p>"Are you sure you're up for it? You look really tired." </p><p>"I'm alright," he dismissed, waving his hand in front of him. "Let me get my jacket." </p><p>It was then that Jen noticed he had been meditating in sweatpants and a t-shirt, despite the fact the weather was rather cold. She also noticed the tattoo on his right forearm. </p><p>"That's an odd place for a tattoo," she commented as he put on a purple hoodie. "It must have hurt a lot to get it." </p><p>RJ looked at his forearm and said: "It hurt more than I thought it would." He smiled at her and then pointed towards the door. </p><p> </p><p>Outside, they stretched their legs and backs and started to jog at a steady pace. As they jogged in silence, Jen kept throwing glances at him. He was handsome but what she found fascinating was how mysterious he was. His eyes looked bright and carefree sometimes and then, out of nowhere, they would turn dark and sad, or very intense and angry. The rest of his face barely moved, but it was still easy to tell he was feeling a turmoil of emotions, all at the same time. In a way, he reminded her of Alex and what she had found attractive in him. </p><p>After a couple of minutes, his face relaxed and he had a small, pleased smile as he jogged next to her, his green eyes sparkling again. She looked at him, trying to figure out how he could control the hatred and anger Bridge had seen in him so well that he looked positively content with life. </p><p>"Is something wrong?" he asked, startling her. "Do I have something on my face?" He ran his hand over his beard, as if to brush off a possible stain. </p><p>"No," she whispered back, forcing her eyes forward. She could feel his eyes on her and looked at him. "What?" </p><p>"You were the one throwing glances at me," he said with a shrug. "Is there anything you want to know?" </p><p>Jen thought for a second that she wanted to know everything about him, but she shook off the thought, wondering where it had even come from. She told herself he was just a former Power Ranger helping her with a mission, nothing more. </p><p>Except he was obviously a lot more and she couldn't help but finding him fascinating. </p><p>"Billy," she said out loud, picking a subject she thought wouldn't be too personal. "What's the story there?" </p><p>He smirked. "Billy used to train with me in Ocean Bluff, the city where we lived before coming to Corinth." </p><p>"Why?" </p><p>"Why what?" </p><p>"Why did you two train together? Are you friends?" </p><p>"I'm not sure if we are still friends," he said, looking down. "But we were friends when he trained with me." </p><p>"You keep saying 'he trained with me' instead of 'we trained together'." </p><p>"That's because he trained with me, but we didn't train together," he explained, using his hands to emphasize the difference he was trying to express. "I was Billy's master." </p><p>"His master?" She repeated in a tone that sounded disapproving to him. </p><p>"As in his teacher," he cleared. "Billy came to my pizza parlor looking for a master." </p><p>"I'm not following," she admitted. </p><p>"Billy and I share a trait that makes me ideal to be his master and him ideal to be my student." </p><p>"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," she said, shrugging. Maybe the subject was too personal after all. </p><p>He sighed. "It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just that I'm not sure how it will sit with you."  </p><p>“Try me." </p><p>"Fine," he agreed, looking at her again. "But you have to promise to listen with an open mind." </p><p>"An open mind?" She looked at him and saw he was being serious. "It's the kind of story that requires an open mind?" </p><p>"It is, yes." </p><p>"Fine. I'll keep an open mind." </p><p>"Billy and I both have the same animal spirit," he began. "The wolf." </p><p>She closed her eyes for a second and let out a sigh. "Animal spirit? Really?" </p><p>"You said you'd keep an open mind," he reminded her, smirking. </p><p>"Sorry," she said smiling at him. "Continue." </p><p>"Well, the wolf animal spirit is rare and there are very few masters of the style," he frowned and corrected himself: "There were very few masters of the style, as far as I know, I'm the only one left." </p><p>"The style?" </p><p>"Right, I should have started at the beginning," he pointed at his right forearm, roughly where the tattoo she had seen earlier was. "The tattoo represents my master stripes, they were given to me when I became the wolf master," he explained. </p><p>"They gave you the tattoo? Was it like, forced upon you?" </p><p>"No, not at all," he held his hands up to halt her train of thought. "Well, it sort of was," he admitted, then shook his head slightly. "In the academy where I learnt kung fu, you get your master stripes when you become a Master. They brand you forever as a master of your animal spirit, and they come with a series of rights and responsibilities. With the brand, your master status can't be denied or taken away and you can't forget to uphold the values you stand for." </p><p>"When did you get that tattoo?" </p><p>"A long time ago." </p><p>"Where you underage?" </p><p>He smiled at the concern her voice expressed. "No, I wasn't underage. And it's not like they held me down and tortured me, Jen. The tattoo is, let's say, magical." </p><p>"Your tattoo is magical?" She repeated. </p><p>"Like I said, it comes with some strings attached," his expressive eyes looked dark for a moment as he said that. "But what I mean is that it's not done with a needle, it appears magically when the level of Master is achieved." She furrowed her brow, trying to understand what he was saying. She took a in a sharp breath and he held up a hand. "Open mind, remember?" </p><p>She sighed again. "Right," she said and then raised a hand. "But you said it hurt more than you thought it would." </p><p>"I did, yes," he answered, his expression puzzled. "But it wasn't the actual getting of the tattoo that hurt, it was having it that hurt." </p><p>"Do you always choose your words this carefully?" </p><p>"What do you mean?" </p><p>"I've heard someone talk like you before. Always choosing the precise words to make others feel like you've answered their question when you really haven't said anything of real value." </p><p>"Is that what you think I'm doing?" </p><p>"Like I said, I've heard it before." </p><p>"From whom?" </p><p>She closed her eyes, mentally kicking herself for walking into that trap. "My superior officer." </p><p>"Who's choosing words carefully now?" he asked with an amused smirk. </p><p>She nodded, unable to keep the corners of her mouth from curling slightly up. "Fine, if you have to know, he was my fiancé." </p><p>"Is he your husband now?" He asked, avoiding eye contact. </p><p>"No," she admitted in a whisper. </p><p>"Ah!" he let out, rolling up his sleeves slightly with a mischievous smile. "And so, the mystery of sergeant Scott's hard shell is solved." </p><p>"We were talking about you and Billy," she reminded him. </p><p>"Yes, we were." </p><p>"Well? How did he find you?" </p><p>"Billy has access to a database of all earthlings who have been Power Rangers, and my status as wolf master is in it." </p><p>"How do you know?" </p><p>"Because I put it there." </p><p>"Of course you did." </p><p>He smiled and nodded. "Point is Billy wanted to learn how to control his animal spirit and he came to my pizzeria in Ocean Bluff." </p><p>"Did he live in Ocean Bluff?" </p><p>"I really don't know," he admitted. "We never discussed how he ended up in Ocean Bluff, or looking for me. But he did and I started to teach him how to control his spirit." </p><p>"Started to teach him? He didn't finish his training?" </p><p>"No. It really wasn't his fault, though. The wolf is a fickle creature, the spirit is very hard to control. It took me a long time to figure out how to control mine. When I last saw Billy, he hadn't figured out the way to control his spirit." </p><p>"Wasn't that what you were supposed to teach him?" </p><p>"How would I teach him how to control a part of himself?" </p><p>"You were his teacher." </p><p>"And I taught him," he defended. "I taught him the wolf technique, but as quick as he was learning the moves, control over his animal spirit is not something I could teach him, he had to figure that out on his own." </p><p>"Why couldn't you teach him?" </p><p>"Because the wolf technique doesn't cover that," he said, his eyes sad again. "There is nothing about that in any of the scrolls that describe it." </p><p>"Didn't your master teach you how to control your spirit?" </p><p>"He couldn't teach me how to control the wolf," He looked ahead again. "Because he had a different spirit. None of my masters had the wolf spirit." </p><p>"Your masters? In plural?" </p><p>"Yes," he shook his head again. "Like I said, the wolf is a rare spirit and wolf master are even more rare. When I was in the academy, there was no wolf master available for me to learn from. I learnt from the scrolls, and masters with other spirits who knew the moves of the fighting style." </p><p>"So, the fighting style and the control of the animal spirit are two separate things?" </p><p>"Exactomondo." he pointed at her with his pinky. "I could teach you the fighting technique of the wolf and you could learn it to perfection, but that wouldn't make you a wolf master." </p><p>"Why not? If I have learnt the technique to perfection, why wouldn't I be a master in it?" </p><p>"Because the word 'master' has two meanings." </p><p>She took a moment to figure out what he meant and he was happy to keep jogging in silence. "Master as in teacher and master as in the one who gives the orders," she said. </p><p>"Exactly." </p><p>"So you don't get the tattoo for being a teacher, you get it for being in control of your animal spirit." </p><p>"You are a very intelligent woman," he complimented with a smile. </p><p>"So you are in control of your wolf, but Billy isn't in control of his." </p><p>"You could say that, yes." </p><p>"What do you mean? You have the tattoo, that means you are in control of your animal spirit, that's what you said." </p><p>"I got the tattoo for gaining control over my animal spirit. It’s possible to lose that control given the right circumstances." </p><p>"Did that happen to you?" </p><p>"Many times. Like I said, the wolf is a fickle creature and very hard to control." </p><p>"Are you in control now?" </p><p>"Yes," he answered but he didn't look at her as he said it and his face saddened again.  </p><p>"You're lying," she accused him. </p><p>"I'm not lying," he defended. </p><p>"Well, you're not telling me the whole truth, then." </p><p>"That is one of my faults, I admit it. I like to keep some things to myself, if that's alright with you." </p><p>She stopped jogging and he stopped with her. They looked at each other in silence for a moment and Jen had to admit he wasn't going to give in on that part.  </p><p>"Fine." She started jogging again. "Why aren't you and Billy friends anymore?" </p><p>"We are alike enough to befriend each other but different enough to make our friendship difficult." </p><p>"You got on his nerves." </p><p>"What makes you think he didn't get on my nerves?" </p><p>"Because he is the one being mean," she answered. "Also, you don't strike me as the kind of man who loses his patience quickly." </p><p>"I have learnt to be patient with age," he said, his hand on his chest, in a gesture of fake modesty.  </p><p>"And modest too." </p><p>"Indeed. I learnt to be humble the hard way." </p><p>"You are not humble in the slightest," she accused again, this time with a chuckle. </p><p>"I am humble," he declared. "Being proud of my achievements doesn't make me arrogant, Jen." </p><p>"If you say so." </p><p>"I do say so." </p><p>"Fine," she said and then grimaced. "Ouch!" she stopped jogging and bent down to grab her right calf, wincing in pain. “Damn!” </p><p>"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly. </p><p>"It's just a cramp," she dismissed, massaging her leg. </p><p>He knelt in front of her. "Let me help," he offered, moving to take her calf in his hands.  </p><p>"NO!" She spat, making him flinch. "I'm fine, it's just a cramp." </p><p>"Please, I can massage it away." </p><p>She put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure that’s worked with every single human being you've ever wanted to touch, but I'm fine." </p><p>He laughed. "Jen, I'm not... I'm not hitting on you," he told her. "If I were, you'd know." She looked at him and his eyes were sparkling with joy again and he was giving her a flirtatious smirk. </p><p>"I don't think you'd know if you were hitting on me," she said, massaging her leg, trying to make the cramp go away. </p><p>"You are doing it wrong," he pointed out. "Please, let me do it." </p><p>"I said no." </p><p>"I'm a Kung Fu master, Jen," he reminded her. "I know several massage techniques, and while some of them are just for pleasure, most of them are therapeutic," she just rolled her eyes before wincing again. "Please, let me do it, I know how to get rid of a cramp very quickly." </p><p>She sighed. "Fine," she agreed, getting her hands out of the way and standing up from her bent down position. </p><p>He moved to roll up the leg of her sweatpants and she put a hand on his shoulder. "Can you do it through the fabric?" </p><p>"Of course," he said and grabbed the hem of the pant leg again. "If you want me to peel off your skin with the fabric," she clawed her hand, pinching his shoulder and he looked up at her. "I have seen women's legs before, you know?" </p><p>"I'm sure you've seen plenty," she snapped back. "It's just really cold," she said, aware of how lame the excuse sounded. </p><p>"It will only take a minute," he assured her. </p><p>"Just do it through the fabric," she insisted. </p><p>"It'll be fine," he said and rolled up the leg of her sweatpants. He looked up at her and noticed she was looking into the distance, swallowing hard. "I won't be long," he whispered, putting his hands on her calf muscle. </p><p>His hands, unlike the air around them, were very warm and surprisingly soft for a man who claimed to be a chef and a Kung Fu master. She looked down at him and he was massaging her calf in a rather medical fashion, no added feeling of sensuality or romanticism, his sight averted from her leg. </p><p>He put one hand behind her knee and bent her leg, using his other hand to stroke her muscle up and down, firmly but carefully. Her leg didn't hurt anymore but she didn't ask him to stop, she just waited for him to finish. </p><p>He ran an inspecting hand down her muscle one last time and rolled the pants leg down again. "There you go, better?" </p><p>She put her weight on her leg and nodded, giving him a shy smile. "Thank you." </p><p>He smiled at her and pointed in the direction they had been jogging from. "Perhaps we should walk back, just in case." </p><p>She looked at him intently, trying to see if he had any opinion on her leg or her weird attitude to him touching it, but he didn't seem even curious. "Yes, perhaps it's better to walk back." </p><p>He looked around them and then up at the dome above their heads. "The winter setting is certainly in place," he commented. </p><p>"Yes, it's definitely colder." </p><p>"And darker. The sun should be out by now." </p><p>"Well, it could be the clouds," she commented distracted by the memory of him massaging her leg. </p><p>"Jen, we're inside a dome," he reminded her. "Both the sun and the clouds are fake." </p><p>"Right," she shook her head slightly. "Why imitate winter, though?" </p><p>"I think it's about normality," he said, tilting his head. "The intention of Corinth is to make people feel like nothing has changed, like Venjix never happened." </p><p>"But it did happen." </p><p>"I know, and pretending it didn't happen only makes it harder to deal with," his face was serious again. </p><p>"You're worried it might be back for real, aren't you?" She asked, putting her hand on his shoulder. </p><p>He looked at her. "Not really," he said. </p><p>"You're lying again." </p><p>"Not lying," he said, smirking. "Just not telling the whole truth." </p><p>"Out of habit?" </p><p>"Jen, Venjix is definitely back, I know it, I have come to terms with that," he told her in a serious tone. "But that's not what worries me. What worries me, if you don't mind, I'd like to keep to myself for now."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Taking Stock</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The number was rising a lot slower than she had expected. </p><p>At the moment, a big red 8% was shining on the ceiling of her mental prison. </p><p>She calculated that she would start losing more control of her capacities and be even more vulnerable to Venjix's will at around 33%, and would lose all power to resist Venjix's orders at around 51%. </p><p>At 100%, she presumed she would lose herself permanently. </p><p> </p><p>She sat on her little chair, looking at her black keyboard and decided to focus on her main priority. Since Venjix had kept its word of fulfilling all her biological needs, her priority now was to call for help, to let someone know where she was and what had happened. </p><p>The problem with that was that she had no idea of what had happened, where she was or how she had gotten there. The last thing she remembered was connecting the series red morpher to her old lab's mainframe to scan it, looking for signs of a Venjix infection. </p><p>Well, she had obviously found them. </p><p> </p><p>K closed her eyes and let out a sigh, trying to focus on the data she had about former Power Rangers living in Corinth. </p><p>She couldn't count on her own team. Dillon and Summer had left with Tenaya over a year ago. Gem, Gemma and Scott were with a scouting party looking for more survivors in the wasteland. Flynn had left with his dad to help with the setup of the new domed city that was being built not far from Corinth. </p><p>And Ziggy... </p><p>Ziggy had been with her at the garage when she checked the series red morpher. She was now a prisoner of Venjix and she had no way of knowing where Ziggy was. And even if she did, Ziggy's morpher was back at the garage, presumably, and infected by Venjix, like the rest of them. </p><p>She wondered if Venjix had gotten a hold of any of the morphers and made a team of robotic soldiers with them somehow. She couldn't look around her physical body, because Venjix kept that part of her consciousness away from her eyes and ears, her main sources of information about the outside world. Her taste, smell and touch gave her some information but without visual confirmation, there was very little she could do. Whether Venjix had or hadn’t taken the rest of the morphers was a moot point anyway, since they were infected and useless to her cause, not to mention her operators were all gone.  </p><p>Who else did she know who was a Power Ranger and could help her? </p><p>There was William Cranston, who had helped her before, being extremely useful when she got stuck looking for solutions regarding Venjix. But he didn't have a morpher anymore, she was certain of that, and fighting Venjix without a morpher was a futile -and pretty much suicidal- mission. </p><p> </p><p>Who else did she know who had a morpher and fighting skills? Someone she could try to find a way to contact for help? Corinth was the last city on Earth, there should be a high concentration of Power Rangers among its inhabitants. If only she could access or remember the list she had compiled. </p><p>She tried to turn on the computer in her mental prison, thinking that perhaps it would let her access information she had stored somewhere in her mind but it wouldn’t turn on. It was merely a prop in Venjix cruel prison. </p><p>In her frustration, she let out an angry huff and that brought back a memory from the time she and her ranger team were still engaged in the fight against Venjix. The others had gone out to the battlefield and she had been alone at the garage when someone had buzzed from the front door. She had looked at the feed from the camera to see a young man with a large pizza in his hands -the logo of a pizza place clearly visible on the box- standing by the door. They had started a brief argument, because he had kept insisting the pizza had been ordered from the garage, despite the fact she had repeatedly told him it wasn’t. </p><p>"I did not order that pizza!" She had insisted through the microphone of the intercom, looking at the man who had seemed completely unfazed by her frustration. </p><p>"This is the address I was given, miss. Are you sure nobody else here ordered it?" He had asked. </p><p>She had let out an angry huff, clearly audible and had repeated: "I did not order it and I have no way of knowing if anybody else in this garage did!" </p><p>"Ok, let’s take a breather here, what's your name?" He had asked out of nowhere, holding the large pizza in one hand and gesturing towards the cam with the other. </p><p>"What does that matter?" </p><p>"Talking to a camera and a speaker makes me uncomfortable, I'd rather know you're a real person. What’s your name?" </p><p>"K. Doctor K to you," she had spat.  </p><p>"K?" He had repeated, sounding confused. </p><p>"Doctor K." </p><p>He had shaken his head briefly. "Right, Doctor, I'm RJ. This pizza is really hot, it’s getting late and it would be great if I could just make my delivery and go back to my pizza parlor." </p><p>"Well, deliver it somewhere else, it's not mine!" She yelled angrily. </p><p>"Woah, woah, woah, take a deep breath, doc," he had instructed, moving the pizza to his other hand. </p><p>She had looked at his wrist and had recognized what the device strapped to it was in less than a second. She had buzzed him in immediately. </p><p>He had walked in and she had met him pretty much at the door. "So, it is yours after all?" He had asked. </p><p>"No, I don't care about the pizza in the slightest, just put it on the counter," she had dismissed. He had done so, looking hurt. She had moved to grab his wrist and he had moved his hand away in a swift motion. </p><p>"What do you think you're doing?" He had asked, looking weary. </p><p>"I want to look at your--" </p><p> </p><p>"Thank you!" Ziggy's voice brought her back to the present immediately. "Who was that man?" </p><p>She swallowed hard. How could she had been so stupid? She had let Venjix know about RJ, because the virus could see her memories. "He was a pizza delivery guy." </p><p>"And why were you thinking about him?" The virus asked. It put its hands on his chest, looking hurt. "I thought you had feelings for the green ranger!" </p><p>She pursed her lips and looked at the floor, refusing to give him any more information. </p><p>"Who was that man?" Venjix repeated, still using Ziggy's looks and voice to interact with her. </p><p>"A pizza guy." </p><p>"From which pizza parlor?" </p><p>"I don't know, I didn't order the pizza." </p><p>"From which pizza parlor, K?" </p><p>"I don't know, Venjix." </p><p>"RJ, the pizza guy," Venjix recounted. "What is so special about RJ, the pizza guy?" She tensed and took a deep breath through her nose but said nothing. "He had something on his wrist, didn’t he?" Venjix said. "That was not a watch. He was a Power Ranger, wasn't he?" She just swallowed hard. "Which pizza place did he work at?" </p><p>"I don't know." </p><p>"TELL ME!" He had yelled with an anger that was so purely Venjix's that Ziggy's face couldn't hide it. </p><p>"Jungle something Pizza," she heard herself say, against her will. "The ranger series operators used to love his pizza. He had bizarre recipes." </p><p>"Well, well, well," Venjix started. "That would be Jungle Karma Pizza. I remember paying it a visit in a little town by the coast, there wasn't much left when I was done with it. I didn't know it had made it to Corinth. I guess it's time our Grinders pay it another visit ."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Kicking and Screaming</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>RJ and Billy were working together on rebuilding a console that had had a couple dozen cables connected to it before it was destroyed. They were working in a silence RJ found oppressive and he wished Billy would say something -anything- to break it. </p><p>Billy glanced at his former friend and took a deep breath. "Robert," he called, setting the parts on the work table and putting his hands in his jean pockets. "This is interfering." </p><p>RJ looked around for what it was that was interfering, but he couldn't find anything physically interfering between them. "What do you mean?" </p><p>"This," Billy said, pointing at RJ and himself. "This silence, this tension. If we are going to work together, we need to work as a team, and this is not a team. It's not even an alliance." </p><p>"I can only say I'm sorry so many times, Billy." </p><p>"And not mean it a single time, " Billy accused, looking straight at RJ, who put down his tool as well and stood straight, to show he was listening. "But that's fine. You had your reasons to do what you did, to disappear, to pretend you were dead..." </p><p>"I was captured by Venjix." </p><p>"That's your story and you're sticking to it, I get it," Billy dismissed and RJ huffed his frustration about Billy not believing him. "I need to know that I can still trust you." </p><p>RJ chuckled as if the idea was ridiculous. "Of course you can trust me!" </p><p>"Right," Billy said, rolling his eyes. "Except you lie and you tell half-truths so often, I think you don't even remember how to be honest." </p><p>"I know I wasn't the best friend ever..." </p><p>"That is incorrect. You were a great friend, despite your peculiar behavior," the former blue ranger said. "You were also a great master and I regretted losing you on both accounts." </p><p>RJ smirked sheepishly, blushing slightly. "Thanks. That means a lot." </p><p>"Anyway, I need to know that when push comes to shove, you will be honest." </p><p>"I always am," RJ insisted. Billy raised an eyebrow and the wolf master added: "When push comes to shove." </p><p>"It is my opinion that this situation qualifies." </p><p>"It definitely does." </p><p>“Do you remember that time we were training in your loft and my animal spirit accidentally knocked out one of your shelves?” </p><p>RJ snickered. “Yeah, man, that was hilarious. You were mortified!” </p><p>“It caused rather severe destruction.” </p><p>“Nah. You just knocked out a couple of shelves. The time you destroyed the kitchenette, on the other hand…” </p><p>“I did offer to assist with the repairs.” </p><p>RJ shrugged. “I don’t mind manual work. It looked much better the second time around.” </p><p>“The point is,” Billy started, looking down. “I remember you were very flustered and worried about the contents of the knocked shelf.” </p><p>“I was? Weird, most of what I kept in those shelves were nothing but trinkets I thought looked neat.” </p><p>“It was the set of navigation tools, remember? The compass and the sextant.” </p><p>RJ took a moment to remember. “Ah! Yeah! Well, nothing happened to them.” </p><p>“There was also a bunch of leather-bound journals.” </p><p>“I remember.” </p><p>“Did you bring those with you to Corinth?” </p><p>“Why would I? They were trinkets.” </p><p>“Robert.” </p><p>RJ pursed his lips and looked away from Billy. Admitting he had brought the ornaments with him from Ocean Bluff would be admitting that he hadn’t been captured by Venjix. But if he lied and for some reason Billy ended up visiting his new loft, he would see the instruments and lose his trust in him again. </p><p>“Fine, you got me. I wasn’t captured by Venjix, I evacuated Ocean Bluff after Grinders attacked my restaurant and loft,” he said. “And, yes, I brought the instruments and some of the journals with me.” </p><p>Billy looked at him, confused. “Robert, you were only meant to bring with you what you thought was absolutely essential.” </p><p>“I think a connection to what I once was and had is essential.” </p><p>“Then why not bring one of your many trophies? Your diplomas? Photographs?” RJ licked his lips but said nothing. “Why bring with you a pair of trinkets and journals retelling someone else’s life?” </p><p>“I read those journals several times, Billy,” RJ whispered. “I felt like the author and I were friends. Pen pals through time, if you will. They were important for me.” </p><p>“Where did you even get them? I remember picking up the compass and you getting very pale.” </p><p>“They were a gift from someone I admired and cared for,” RJ told him. </p><p>“Who?” </p><p>“A friend.” </p><p>“Are they originals?” </p><p>“Yes. Someone once gave them to me and that fed my love for astronomy and math. Those instruments were the first steps on the path that led me to the life I had when we met.” </p><p>“And yet you look unwilling to talk about them or who gave them to you.” </p><p>“It’s a sore subject. I lost that person in quite a tragic way.” </p><p>“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to open old wounds.” </p><p>“No problem. Like I said, they are fine and they’re here in Corinth with me.” </p><p>“I had a similar gift,” Billy said. RJ looked at him, interested. “My first chemistry lab set and my first telescope. Got them for Christmas. That telescope was the last gift I received from my mother before she passed.” </p><p>“Billy, you don’t have to…” </p><p>“Every time I used it to look at the stars, I would think of my mother and imagine her up there, floating free forever.” </p><p>“Billy, I don’t know what to say.” </p><p>“Say nothing, I know that when that compass points north for you, it points to whoever it was that gave it to you. I have my telescope with me here in Corinth too. You are right, one must keep something to remind oneself of what one once had and who one once was.” </p><p>“You’re talking like a robot.” </p><p>“It is a recurring occurrence.” </p><p>“Those instruments remind me of how I lost the person who gave them to me so I always make sure to never let anything like that happen again,” he swallowed hard. “Not on my watch, anyway.” </p><p>Billy looked at him but RJ looked like he was on the verge of tears. Billy decided to leave it at that, considering the moment bonding enough. “Let’s get back to work, this lab isn’t going to put itself together.” </p><p> </p><p>On the other side of the lab, Bridge and Jen were setting up a surveillance system. Jen was programming it to use the city’s cameras and Bridge was making sure to keep it as protected and isolated from the city’s and the lab’s systems, in case Venjix had infected them. </p><p>“Wouldn’t the city crew notice if the system was infected?” Bridge asked as he typed. </p><p>“I’m certain they would, but Venjix is a very intelligent program that learns very fast. It could have learnt how to lurk just out of sight of the human crew or even the technologic filters and protections set up,” Jen answered. “I mean, Billy thinks Venjix infected Doctor K’s ranger program, which I am sure was very protected against it in particular.” </p><p>Bridge looked at the display of camera feeds in front of them. "There are so many cameras," he said, with a slight tone of despair. </p><p>"The system was designed to cover up to 90% of the public areas of the city." Jen informed, her eyes locked on the screen. </p><p>"How are we going to keep up with a surveillance system this big? It would take a legion of people to monitor these!" </p><p>"We don't need a legion of people," Jen said, pressing a circle on her gauntlet to bring up the list of items she had available to her. "Because we have this," she tapped the hologram of the list and a small device materialized on the table, right under her hand. </p><p>"That’s so cool," Bridge commented, his eyes fixed on the gauntlet. </p><p>"I know, right?” she said with childish glee. “I'm still trying to get used to it myself”. She took the device that had materialized on the table and showed it to him. "This device has an algorithm that will scan the cameras for us, so we don't have to waste time sitting here looking at the feeds." </p><p>She placed the device next to the console she had conjured from the ship a couple of days prior and the device turned on, a small circle of little blue lights blinking as it read the system. </p><p>"Now, we have programmed the Venjix attack robot models and configurations as far as we know," Jen told Bridge. "The device will look for them in rapid succession and alert us if something goes--" She was interrupted by the little device making a high-pitched noise, its little blue lights turning red, and the feed from a single camera taking up the whole screen. "Looks like it found Grinders." </p><p>Billy and RJ looked up when she said that and RJ pointed at the screen, his face suddenly very pale. "That's a block away from Jungle Karma Pizza!" </p><p>The device, still making the high-pitched noise, changed the feed to another camera, closer to RJ's restaurant. </p><p>"They're going to Jungle Karma Pizza!" RJ yelled and ran out of the room as fast as he could. </p><p>Jen ran after him, followed by Billy and Bridge. RJ ran past Billy’s car and jumped into his jeep, turning it on and speeding off towards the restaurant, leaving the other three to follow him in Billy’s car. </p><p> </p><p>Jen, Billy and Bridge arrived at Jungle Karma Pizza a couple of minutes after RJ -who had seemingly driven as fast as he could- to find RJ's employees Lauren and Chip barely holding the fort against at least three dozen of Grinders. </p><p>Chip was fighting the Grinders one on one while Lauren lead the customers away from the fight towards safety. </p><p>Chip kept kicking, looking around for a point of advantage to fire the bow he was holding. Lauren joined him materializing a katana but it was soon obvious she had problems controlling her weapon. </p><p>But RJ was the real shocking image. </p><p>The calm, easy-going chef who had spent the last couple of days with them at the garage had transformed into a completely different man. </p><p>Jen had had the impression he looked like a wild animal the night she had first seen him, and now she knew why. He was behaving like a wild animal, completely out of control, his face contorted in anger and primal screams of anger coming out of him like he was possessed.  </p><p>He wasn't fighting the Grinders trying to enter his restaurant, holding them back or even knocking them out. He was tearing them apart with his bare hands, viciously pulling off limb by limb, throwing them against the walls with some kind of superhuman strength that made the robots shatter when they hit. </p><p>Billy pointed at the street and they saw more Grinders headed in their direction. Jen and Bridge pulled out their blasters and stood between Billy and the new Grinders, engaging in a shooting with them. </p><p>RJ was moving fast and hitting hard, not taking a moment to breathe until he finally tore apart the last of the Grinders. He looked around like a caged animal, breathing heavily, his hands and arms scratched and bleeding. His eyes were a dark shade of violet, not their usual bright green and he was visibly shaking with anger. </p><p>Having defeated all the Grinders, everybody was now paralyzed, staring at him, shocked by the rage he had unleashed out of nowhere. "Are there any more of them?" RJ asked in a voice so deep it sounded like a growl. Nobody answered, still in shock. "WELL?!" He yelled, in Chip and Lauren's direction. </p><p>"None inside," Chip choked out. “Or out here.” </p><p>RJ ran his bleeding hands through his hair, smearing blood all over it, and looked around desperately. He knelt and picked up from the floor the silver ring that usually hung around his neck from a leather cord. He wrapped the cord around his neck and as soon as he tied the cord around his neck, his eyes turned back to green. </p><p> </p><p>Next to her, Jen felt Bridge shaking and turned to see the cadet pale and covered in a light coat of cold sweat. </p><p>"Bridge, are you alright?" She asked softly. </p><p>Bridge shook his head, but said nothing, his eyes glued to RJ. </p><p> </p><p>RJ was addressed his employees in a very unfriendly tone. "What the hell did you two think you were doing?" He yelled.  </p><p>"Saving your restaurant," Lauren snapped back, the sword still in her hand. </p><p>"What does my restaurant matter? You should have been saving your lives! Why didn't you run?" </p><p>"Because you left the restaurant in our hands and we were doing as you asked!" Lauren answered, obviously mad at his lack of gratitude. </p><p>"I left you in charge of making pizzas and serving customers, not fighting Grinders!" </p><p>"Well, we know how to fight Grinders," she snapped back.  </p><p>"Do you?! What if we hadn't known about this? What if we hadn't shown up to help you?! How many Grinders would you have been able to kick back before you were overwhelmed or destroyed?!" </p><p>"Just because we weren’t tearing them off with our bare hands it doesn’t mean we weren’t defeating them!" Lauren yelled.  </p><p>"What if we hadn't been here to help you?!" </p><p>"Like I said, we would have been fine!" Lauren yelled slashing the air in front of her, in RJ’s general direction. Chip put a hand on her shoulder, but she shook it off. "You’re not the only hidden Power Ranger in this restaurant, remember? We can fight too!" </p><p>"Really?! The girl who had a panic attack after seeing a patrol of Grinders heading in the opposite direction to her is telling me she has it in her to go face first against them?" </p><p>"That was exactly what I was doing, in case you didn't notice, in your eagerness to be the one tearing robots apart!" She pointed out, moving the sword in front of her as she spoke. "I am a samurai! I do not run, I fight until the end!" </p><p>"What you did two nights ago was the exact definition of running!" He spat, prompting Chip to try to position himself between them but being unable due to Lauren’s erratic slashes with the sword. Jen and Billy also approached them, but Bridge stayed on the other side of the street, pale and paralyzed. "What made you so brave this time around?" RJ asked, suddenly grabbing Lauren's sword by the blade and pulling it out of her hand, making a cut across his fingers he didn’t acknowledged. "This piece of metal doesn't make any real difference, Lauren! It’s a useless trinket!" He yelled, throwing the sword away. </p><p>Lauren followed the sword with her sight, her face contorted in rage. "HOW DARE YOU?!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. "THAT SWORD WAS MY FATHER'S AND NOW IT IS MINE! MY WARRIOR SPIRIT RESIDES IN IT!" </p><p>"IT’S A SWORD! DON'T LIE TO YOURSELF, IT’S NOT YOU WARRIOR SPIRIT, IT'S JUST A HINDRANCE! JUST LIKE ALL OTHER SWORDS!" </p><p>"MY SAMURAI SWORD IS A PART OF ME!" She yelled, moving to pick her sword up. Once again, she slashed the air in RJ’s general direction. "I can show you exactly how good with it I am right now!" </p><p>"I'd love to see you try!" RJ growled. </p><p>"ENOUGH!" Jen yelled out of nowhere, startling everybody. RJ and Lauren stood there, snarling at each other, but everybody else was looking at Jen. "I believe you owe Lauren an apology," she told RJ. </p><p>"I don't owe anything to anyone," he growled and walked past Chip, to the inside of the building. </p><p>"What is wrong with him?" Chip asked the group. "He's not like that, he's never like that! He’s he chillest man ever!" </p><p>Jen shrugged at him, not really having any answers. Billy put a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him and he pointed towards Bridge with his chin. Bridge was still staring at the building as if it were a haunted house. </p><p> </p><p>Jen walked back to the green ranger and put a hand on his arm. "Are you alright?" </p><p>He looked at her. "There was a dire wolf," he whispered in terror. </p><p>"A dire wolf?" </p><p>"Around RJ, when he was fighting. It was like a wolf but it was very dark, black, and so fierce, so angry... it tainted RJ's purple aura with black. It made RJ evil or something." </p><p>"It wasn't a dire wolf, Bridge," she said. "I think you saw RJ's animal spirit. He mentioned it's a wolf." </p><p>"If that creature is his animal spirit then he is more dangerous than I thought at first." </p><p>Billy had approached them too and said: "The wolf animal spirit is dangerous. It is challenging to control." He smiled softly at Bridge, putting his hand in the pocket of his jeans. "RJ is not evil, Bridge, and neither is his wolf. I have no theories about what could have prompted that behavior.” </p><p>“He looked angry,” Jen offered. </p><p>"That wasn't anger," Bridge said, shaking his head. "I've seen anger, that was rage. That was someone going berserk." </p><p>"Maybe," Billy agreed. "I noticed there was something different with him but I couldn't place it. Now I know." </p><p>"What is it?" Jen asked. </p><p>"My wolf can't feel his wolf anymore. I can't feel his animal spirit at all, it's like he's empty of it." </p><p>"That wolf was there," Bridge insisted. "I saw it." </p><p>"I don't deny that," Billy agreed. "I felt it when he was fighting, very angry, hurt and hungry; very unlike RJ's calm, easy-going wolf that I used to know. But then it was completely gone again." </p><p> </p><p>RJ walked out of the building, locking the door behind him. He handed Lauren and Chip their bags and coats. </p><p>"Go home, both of you." </p><p>"No," Lauren said defiantly, dropping her bag and coat on the ground. "I want to help in the fight against Venjix." </p><p>"Me too!" Chip said, in a voice that tried to sound more confident than he really felt. RJ turned to look at him and he swallowed hard but stood his ground. "We are Power Rangers too." </p><p>"Power Rangers who can't morph!" RJ reminded them. </p><p>"You said you could fix my morpher!" Lauren said. "Do it! Fix it! Let me fight with you!" </p><p>"The stakes are much higher than we originally thought--" </p><p>"Which is why you need us now more than before!" She insisted. "Let us fight with you!" </p><p>"This isn't game! This isn't something to laugh about at the end of the day. Go home and--" </p><p>"Let the grown-ups take care of it?" She interrupted. "You are not the only one who lost people to Venjix, you know?" </p><p>"I do!" He answered, and it sounded like a bark. "I know you lost someone and I know Chip lost someone too. We all lost people to Venjix. That doesn't qualify you for--" </p><p>"But it does qualify you?!" She yelled. </p><p>"I have lost so many people in my life you can't even begin to imagine!" He yelled. "You have no idea." </p><p>"We would if you ever talked to us," Chip commented, his eyes glued to the floor.  </p><p>"Just go home. That's what I should have asked you to do from the start." </p><p>"You need us," Lauren insisted. </p><p>"I don't need you," he whispered and walked away from them, towards the other three. </p><p>When he reached them, Jen said: "You know? I went to war. I fought in a war for two years, against this alien race. Massive monsters, ridiculously advanced technology. And all I had was a team and an attack riffle, RJ." </p><p>"What is that supposed to mean?" </p><p>"I didn't have my morpher with me when I went to war. That didn't make me any less of a soldier or any less willing to fight." </p><p>"They are not soldiers, Jen," he refuted. "They're children." </p><p>"They’re not children. They are adult enough to know this is a war they want to fight," she told him. "Which is why I'm going to let them join us." </p><p>"You can't do that!" </p><p>"Yes, I can. This is my mission, I call the shots." </p><p>"You can't let them join us, what if they get hurt? What if they die?" </p><p>"We'll bury them." </p><p>She turned and began crossing the street to where Chip and Lauren were standing and RJ followed her. "This is a bad idea, you can't ask them to join us!" </p><p>"Why? Because you say so?" </p><p>"If it must be so, then yes!" </p><p>She stopped walking and looked at him, straight into his eyes. "You are not my boss, you are not my master and you are not my leader. You haven't given me a single reason to trust you since I met you, other than your weird New Age nonsense and your charming smirk. I am the leader of this mission and they will join us, whether you like it or not." </p><p>RJ stood there, stung by her words. "Not a single reason to trust me?" </p><p>"Not one. I'm tired of hearing half-truths and 'trust me, I have a plan's. Give me a reason to trust you, especially after what I just saw, and then I'll take your opinion into consideration. Until then, I call the shots and I say they can come with us." </p><p> </p><p>Lauren and Chip picked their stuff up and walked towards Jen. "This is a bad idea, Jen," RJ whispered. </p><p>"The only real danger I've seen we're all in is not Venjix, RJ," she put her index finger on his chest, accusatorily. "It's you." </p><p>"They can't morph." </p><p>"Not until you fix their morphers. Billy and Bridge will take care of the lab. You will fix the morphers. Theirs and yours." </p><p>"There is nothing wrong with my morpher." </p><p>"Then fix whatever it is that is keeping you from morphing," she told him, leading Lauren and Chip towards Billy and Bridge. "And fix it fast. We don't know how long we have until Venjix is strong enough to strike again. We need to be prepared."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Real Talk</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The drive back to the garage was tense. Jen offered to ride back with RJ, since Billy had to drive his car, Bridge was scared of him for some reason and he was mad at Lauren and Chip. </p><p>After driving a couple of blocks, RJ looked at Jen briefly. He drove into a basement garage before Billy could follow him and drove to the very bottom. </p><p>“What are you doing?” Jen demanded. </p><p>“You said I haven’t given you any reason to trust me,” he said very softly. </p><p>“And you haven’t.” </p><p>“I will now.” He looked at her and then showed her the ring hanging from his neck. “Think of this as a leash. If I don’t have it wrapped around my neck, my animal spirit can come back and take over and you saw what happened.” </p><p>“You said you were in control of it.” </p><p>“I said I was technically in control of it,” he corrected. “and I am. I have a leash.” He tugged softly on the ring to support his point. </p><p>“Why are you telling me about this?” She asked, genuinely confused. </p><p>“Because you don’t stink of fear,” he told her, point blank. “You are not afraid of what you saw back there.” </p><p>“You mean I am not afraid of you.” </p><p>“It’s hard to explain but that man wasn’t me.” </p><p>She sighed. “I don’t care. You’re right. I’m not afraid of you, not even the rabid you.” </p><p>“Good,” he said, nodding his head. “Because that makes you ideal for this job.” </p><p>“What job?” </p><p>“Jen, I have stepped away from fighting because of what you saw back at the restaurant. But if Venjix’s back, that means I may have to lose the leash. I want you to promise me that you will put it back on and bring me back.” </p><p>She sat there, looking at him in silenced. She looked at the ring and then looked away, swallowing hard. </p><p>“Jen,” he called. She looked at him again. “Please. I need your help.” </p><p>“How do I know you will not break my jaw? Or my neck?” </p><p>“You can’t know. But you’re not afraid of… me. None of the others will even consider doing it.” She remained silent. “Jen, please. I have nobody else.” </p><p>She closed her eyes and sighed. “Fine.” </p><p>“You’ll do it? You’ll put the leash back on?” </p><p>“Yes.” </p><p>“You promise?” </p><p>“Yes.” </p><p>“Yes what?” </p><p>“Yes! I promise to put your leash back on!” He showed her his pinkie finger. She looked at him, bewildered. “Are you serious?!” </p><p>“Yes.” He wiggled his pinkie finger. She rolled her eyes and wrapped her pinkie around his. “Pinkie promise?” He asked, his bright green eyes boring into hers. </p><p>“Yes, I very maturely pinkie promise to put your leash back on when you need it.” </p><p>“Thank you,” he said and drove the jeep out of the basement. </p><p> </p><p>When they arrived at the garage, the others were already there. RJ approached them and Bridge took the smallest step back. RJ breathed in through his nose and the smell of fear from the others filled his nostrils. He looked at them. Billy looked more confused than judgemental, Chip couldn’t hold his gaze, Lauren refused to look at him and Bridge looked absolutely terrified.  </p><p>Before he knew what he was doing, he took Jen’s hand in his. He was shaking. </p><p>“You ok?” Jen asked.  </p><p>He looked at all of them again and exhaled, as if he was about to cry. He let go of Jen’s hand and walked to his room as fast as he could, locking the door behind him. </p><p>“Where were you?” Billy asked Jen. </p><p>“We had to talk about something.” </p><p>“About what?” </p><p>“I can’t say.” </p><p>“Why is he so agitated?” </p><p>“I don’t know.” </p><p>Billy looked at her. “He sought solace in you. He grabbed your hand.” </p><p>“I don’t know what that was about.” </p><p>“Then I better find out.” </p><p>Billy walked to RJ’s bedroom while Bridge and Jen helped Lauren and Chip settle. </p><p>Inside his room, RJ was becoming more and more uneasy. He heard someone trying the lock on the door and then two loud knocks. </p><p>He ignored them, pacing the room, licking his lips so much he thought he was going to erase them.  </p><p>Three more booming knocks. </p><p>“Robert!” Billy called from the other side. “Robert, let me in, we need to talk.” </p><p>“Not now!” He called back, his voice almost breaking. </p><p>“Yes, right now!” Billy insisted. He knocked again, this time harder. “Open the door, Robert. It’s just me.” </p><p>“I can’t right now, Billy,” RJ almost pleaded. “Please, not now.” </p><p>“Open the door! I’m not going anywhere any time soon!” </p><p>RJ rubbed his face and ran his finger through his hair. He took two deep breaths and then unlocked the door. He opened it expecting all five of the others to be there, but Billy had been telling the truth. It was just him. He stepped aside so Billy could enter and then locked the door behind him. </p><p>“I just need to breathe, Billy.” </p><p>“What happened back there?” </p><p>“I need to breathe.” </p><p>“Robert, what happened?” </p><p>RJ sniffed and kept pacing the room, rolling his sleeves up and down nervously. “I need to breathe.” </p><p>“Locked in a room?” </p><p>“I just need to be alone, to get away from—” he stopped talking, pursing his lips. </p><p>“Get away from what?” </p><p>“The fear. All of you stink of fear. Except Jen, She’s a truly remarkable woman.” </p><p>“Well, like all humans I fear that which I cannot understand.” </p><p>“I need to breathe…” </p><p>“Then breathe. I’ll wait.” Billy said this and sat on RJ’s bed, his face a mask of patience. RJ was amazed by this, considering Billy had been angrily snapping at him since the visit at Jungle Karma Pizza. He moved to the window and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. He felt like a caged animal. </p><p>“what is it exactly that you want to know?” He asked Billy, sounding as if he was about to cry. </p><p>“Two things,” Billy started. “First is, of course, what happened to your animal spirit and why can’t I feel it anymore.” </p><p>“I’ve separated it from me and keep it locked in the spirit world. It has gotten too out of control and it takes over me. That’s the reason I don’t want to fight.” </p><p>“Is that the best solution to your predicament?” </p><p>“Not by far, but it’s the only one I have.” </p><p>“In the meantime.” </p><p>“Yes. Until I can find a way to recover control.” </p><p>“The other thing I want to know is why did I go through a few rough years but my laid back, relaxed, always in control kung fu master went through the apocalypse.” </p><p>“What is that supposed to mean?” RJ asked, looking at Billy with eyes full of tears. </p><p>“You are a completely different man trying to hold on to a mask that doesn’t fit anymore.” </p><p>RJ closed his eyes and tears ran down his cheeks. “I went through the apocalypse. I lost everybody. I lost everything. Including my animal spirit and myself.” </p><p>“What do you mean by that?” </p><p>“I wasn’t captured by Venjix…” </p><p> “Do I want to know?” </p><p>“No.” </p><p>“Fine. What made you come to Corinth?” </p><p>“Lauren and Chip. When I met them, he had barely escaped death by Grinder and she had escaped a prisoner camp. They were helping each other out but they weren’t doing a very good job. I adopted them, if you will. I told them I’d bring them to Corinth and then head back to the wasteland. They threatened to follow me if I did. So, I stayed.” </p><p>“I see,” Billy answered.  </p><p>RJ took another deep breath through his nose. Billy didn’t smell so much like fear anymore. “Anything else you want to know?” </p><p>“Will what I saw in front of your restaurant happen again?” </p><p>“If Venjix makes me fight before I’m ready, I can’t promise it won’t.” </p><p>Billy nodded. RJ sat on the bed next to him, looking at the floor. </p><p>“Sadness doesn’t suit you,” Billy said, looking at him. </p><p>RJ managed a small smile. “It’s not sadness, Billy. It’s despair.” </p><p>“That doesn’t suit you either.” </p><p>“Did I ever tell you about my time at the Pai Zhua and how I became a Master?” </p><p>“Only vaguely.” </p><p>“Well, I had many teachers. The previous wolf master was destroyed years before I joined the Order.” </p><p>“Destroyed?” </p><p>“I was told it was the only way.” </p><p>“The only way to do what?” </p><p>“I was never told.” RJ sniffed and rolled his sleeves up again. “But there was no Wolf Master when I joined the order so I had to learn the technique from the scrolls and the other teachers.” </p><p>“You mean your other masters?” </p><p>“They were teachers, Billy. I had no Master. I had no one to go to for advice about my animal spirit. I never did, I always had to figure things out on my own,” he wasn’t gesturing as he spoke and that showed to Billy just how defeated RJ felt. “And right now, it’s more obvious than ever that I never had a master to go to for advice about my spirit when I don’t understand things. I am my own master and I can’t find the solution.” </p><p>“You haven’t found the solution yet,” Billy whispered, putting his hand on RJ’s shoulder. </p><p>“What if I never find it? Living the rest of my life like this…” </p><p>“You will find the answer. You always do. I trust you.” </p><p>RJ looked at him for a few second and concluded Billy was being totally honest. He trusted him indeed. </p><p>“You need to find the answer, RJ,” Billy told him. “We need you. Doctor K needs you. Every human needs you.” RJ simply looked at him so Billy pressed on. “Even you need yourself.” </p><p>RJ got up and walked to the door unlocking it. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he told billy, who had understood his gesture as a sign the conversation was over. </p><p>“Listen to me,” he said before leaving. “I am a wolf too and all five of us are Rangers as well. You may feel alone, RJ, but you are not alone.” </p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, in the garage roof, Lauren was looking at the city through tearful eyes, her samurai sword hanging from her waist. She sniffed and cleaned her nose with her sleeve. </p><p>She heard the door to the roof opened and hoped it was anyone but RJ. She kept her back to the newcomer, to hide her tears. </p><p>“L?” It was Chip. </p><p>She dried her tears with her sleeve. “Hey.” </p><p>“Are you alright?” </p><p>“Not really,” she admitted. “I was a failure against those Grinders.” </p><p>“It’s not your fault RJ decided to destroy them all himself.” </p><p>“No, Chip. I was afraid. I wasn’t thinking clearly. My mind was not calm and my technique was sloppy. Grinders just scare me so much.” </p><p>“You mentioned.” Chip moved to stand next to her but didn’t touch her. </p><p>“You said you lost Vida,” Lauren said. </p><p>“Yeah.” </p><p>“I lost my brother Jayden.” Lauren choked and started crying. “We were both supposed to escape, but the Grinders caught up with us and he remained behind. He told me to run and save myself and I did… and he died!” she let herself cry and Chip put a hand on her shoulder. “Grinders killed the only vestige of a family I had left. Now I’m all alone in the world.” </p><p>“No, you are not,” Chip said. “I’m here for you. I’m sure once whatever got into him passes, RJ will be too. We are all rangers, we have each other’s backs.” </p><p>“A ranger team is not a family.” </p><p>“It’s pretty damn close,” Chip said. “Listen, I’m not in the market for a new Vida,” he started. “She was irreplaceable.” </p><p>“I know.” </p><p>“But I may have an opening for a Lauren, if you are interested.” She looked at him and he smiled. “They’re not that much older than us but they treat us like we’re kids. I am not a kid, in fact, I am not only a wizard, I am a knight. And you are a Samurai. If they won’t take us seriously, we will make them take us seriously.” </p><p>“Do you think Venjix is back?” </p><p>“Where there are Grinders…” Chip said. “But that’s not the point. The point is you are not alone. None of us is alone. We have each other.” </p><p>“I’m scared because I’m a red ranger.” </p><p>Chip looked at her, his eyes widened. “I had never heard of a female red ranger before.” </p><p>“My tenure was short lived. And a failure.” </p><p>“A failure?” </p><p>“I was supposed to use a symbol to trap Master Xandred in the Nighlock world but he found a way around the seal and escaped. It was Jayden who lead the team to victory. I am nothing but a cheap, inadequate replacement red ranger.” </p><p>“Or maybe, you are just the valuable, adequate red ranger of another team.” </p><p>“You mean this team? This team that treats us like children?” </p><p>“You are a red ranger. And you are a true warrior. I don’t know about them, but I would follow you into battle.” </p><p>“There will be no battle to follow me into. I changed my mind, I don’t want to fight Venjix.” </p><p> </p><p>Doctor K’s body was typing furiously at the terminal in Venjix factory. The factory kept spitting out Grinders that were immediately dispatched to Corinth. </p><p>Using Doctor K’s eyes, Venjix looked at the attack bot blueprints in front of him. “Excellent,” he whispered from K’s throat. “Now to wait until the good doctor gives me the last piece I need to light up this world.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. She blinded me with science</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Billy leaned against the reinforced door frame, barely able to keep his balance. "RJ," he called in a hoarse voice through a dry mouth. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" </p><p>RJ, who had been in the kitchenette chopping the vegetables for lunch, turned to look at him and dropped the knife down on the counter immediately. He walked towards the blue ranger, drying his hands on a towel he had hanging from his pants waist. </p><p>"Man, what's wrong?" </p><p>Billy didn't answer him, walking back into the lab instead. "Please, close the door behind you," he asked his friend as he stumbled towards Doctor K's chair. </p><p>RJ did as he was asked and walked towards him, looking worried. He put his hand on the blue ranger's shoulder and Billy looked at him, his eyes wide. </p><p>"Billy?" </p><p>"I don't think I have ever needed you as a master more than I do right now," Billy whispered. RJ kneeled on the floor in front of him, setting the towel aside and removing the bandanna he had put on for cooking. "I got this computer working, I think it's the main console," he started, pointing at a screen. </p><p>He had been working all morning on repairing what he believed was the mainframe of the whole lab and had finished a few minutes earlier. He had connected the computer to a screen RJ had repaired the day before and when the system had started, a password prompt had appeared on the screen. Billy had typed in the first thing that came to mind and the system had run a default program. </p><p>"If you're seeing this, then Venjix must have won, we have failed," had said a Doctor K from a video that had started playing. </p><p>"Or I have literally no way of figuring out your password," Billy had whispered. </p><p> </p><p>Now, he was looking at the paused video, cold sweat running down his face. "Billy?" RJ had urged again. </p><p>"That's her," Billy whispered. "That's Doctor K." </p><p>"She's so young," RJ whispered. "I remember seeing her once, when I delivered a pizza here, but I didn't know who she was." </p><p>"She is very young, yes," Billy agreed. "Did I ever tell you how I ended up in your pizza parlor in Ocean Bluff?" RJ shook his head. "Well, it's a long story. You never asked about it." </p><p>"I have my own secrets, Billy." RJ said in his usual soft voice. </p><p>"I was running," Billy admitted. "I was running as far away as I could." </p><p>"Running from what?"  </p><p>"What I'm about to tell you is something that has got to remain between the two of us, RJ, you can't tell this to anyone." </p><p> </p><p>"I'm good at keeping secrets." </p><p>"I know you are." Billy sighed and then took a deep breath. "Scientific curiosity is a very powerful thing, you know this. It's a lifestyle." RJ nodded. "The love for science can blind you as much as romantic love, if not more, and it certainly blinded me, much more than I should have let it." </p><p>"Why don't you start at the beginning?" RJ suggested, trying to calm his friend's nerves. </p><p>Billy swallowed hard and nodded. "When I graduated from high school, I spent some time solving a problem with the aging of my body cells, a problem I had caused myself with an aging machine, in an attempt to stop the aliens trying to take over the Earth by reversing time." </p><p>"When was this?" </p><p>"1995. The villain we were fighting, Master Vile, turned the Earth's time back ten years, to turn us back into helpless children and get us out of the way." </p><p>RJ furrowed his brow. "I was sure I had lived that year before..." </p><p>"I didn't think anybody else on Earth had noticed. Besides, how old were you in 1985, four? Five?" </p><p>RJ shook his head. "Older than I look, remember?" </p><p>"Right," Billy dismissed, blinking slowly. "Anyway, I created an aging machine but I was the only one able to use it... long story short, in 1996, I began to age out of control and traveled to a planet named Aquitar to recover my youth drinking from their equivalent of the Fountain of Youth. I know it sounds crazy." </p><p>"Nothing sounds crazy to me," RJ said with a smile. "I have a very open mind." </p><p>"Well, I thought I was going to stay there for the rest of my life, but by 1998 I was back on Earth. The Power Rangers had moved their fight away from Angel Grove and I decided to move on, entered college, graduated with honors, you know this much. Shortly after I graduated, I was offered a position in an institute called the Ashford-Simmons Institute." </p><p>RJ shook his head slightly. "Never heard of it." </p><p>"Neither had I," Billy continued. "But they were carrying out very advanced scientific research, RJ, I can't explain how advanced it was. I started there as an assistant researcher, and mentor to some of the students, they had a program for extremely intelligent and scientific driven individuals. </p><p>My job, besides assisting the students, consisted of helping out on projects and research that, to me, seemed far-fetched and to come out of nowhere." RJ raised his chin in interest. "It was a great environment for someone with great love and interest for science such as myself, but it was, in hind sight, a bit odd. We were made to wear uniforms and we lived in the facilities, we received visitors in supervised rooms, ate exclusively the food they served us, which was supposedly designed to increase our mental potential," he sighed. "It was a very bizarre situation but the science was just so spectacular, RJ, I couldn't get away." His eyes welled up and RJ put a hand on his knee. "I didn't know, RJ, I swear." </p><p>"You didn't know what, Billy?" </p><p> </p><p>"I swear I didn't know." </p><p>"It's alright, Billy," RJ cooed softly. "What is going on?" </p><p>"I never knew where most of the projects came from or where they went, it never occurred to me they could have any application, much less that there was a way to weaponize them." </p><p>"Weaponize them?" </p><p>Billy pointed at the screen, that still showed Doctor K. "That uniform, I would recognize it anywhere, lab coat and all. That is the Ashford-Simmons uniform." </p><p>"Doctor K was a student at Ashford-Simmons?" </p><p>"No. The story is a lot worse than that. It turned out Ashford-Simmons was not privately funded as they said, it was a cover, for secret government think-tank called Alphabet Soup." </p><p>"Alphabet Soup?" </p><p>"I think they took the most promising youngsters from Ashford-Simmons and sent them to some hidden facility and forced them to come up with project after project for weapons and such. This is, of course, my own conclusion." Billy swallowed hard. "Maybe that's not how they recruited for Alphabet Soup. I can't be sure. The point is Ashford-Simmons was evacuated within a week of the Venjix virus first appearance, give or take." </p><p>"Were you there when it was evacuated?" </p><p>"Yes, but I didn't know about Venjix. I was just asked to vacate the premises as soon as possible and to never mention my work at Ashford-Simmons to anyone, or my life would be in danger." </p><p>"And that's when you went to Ocean Bluff?" </p><p>"Yes." </p><p>RJ pursed his lips in a thoughtful expression. "If you didn't know about the virus, how did you find out about Alphabet Soup?" </p><p>"Doctor K told me, in one of our communications. She gave a passing mention to it and I enquired. She explained what it was. She was kidnapped and mentally tortured during her entire childhood, RJ, and many more like her were too," he closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying not to cry. "I never made the connection between Ashford-Simmons and Alphabet Soup until I saw Doctor K," he pointed at the screen again. "I had never seen her before." </p><p>"Despite all your communications?" </p><p>"They were almost exclusively written." Billy looked away from both the screen and RJ. "Anyway, I used to work on all kinds of projects and I was sent a computer science one, but not through the usual channels." </p><p>"The usual channels?" </p><p>"This project was sent to me not by one of my superiors but directly from someone who posed as a student, a girl named Susan Knox. She said she was working on it for the end of the year exposition and wanted me to help her get first place in the contest." </p><p>"And it didn't raise any red flags?" </p><p>"It should have on first sight, but Susan Knox was listed as a student in Ashford Simmons' system, and I had received from the normal channels projects by her before, but it didn't raise any red flags until I saw what she wanted to do." </p><p>"Why?" </p><p>"Because it was a self-aware, self-replicating computer virus capable of taking over a military- grade secured mainframe and disable it." </p><p>RJ moved back as if Billy had slapped him. "Venjix." </p><p>"Yes, Venjix." </p><p>"And?" </p><p>"I asked her why she wanted to create such a thing, I pointed out to her all the dangers of such a technology and she said she was aware of how dangerous it was. But she also said it was purely a mental exercise, that she didn't plan to actually create the virus, that her real project was developing an antivirus to fight and stop that kind of dangerous technology." </p><p>"And you believed her." RJ didn't sound mad and when Billy looked at him and he saw his friend didn't look disapproving either. </p><p>"Yes," the scientist admitted. "I was blinded by the science, I believed she was just operating on a mental exercise, that it was all hypothetical, because that's what I would have done to explore this avenue. She convinced me because I let her convince me. I knew it was dangerous but it was also such an exciting opportunity." He put his head between his hands. "I'm sorry, I should have said no, I should have told her that it was too dangerous but... I was blinded. It never occurred to me that she was going to actually do it." Billy buried his face in his hands. "I helped Doctor K create Venjix, RJ." </p><p>RJ didn't say or do anything for a few seconds but then, he stood up and put his arms around Billy, giving him a tight hug. He had a lot of question and reprimands he wanted to make but his friend was obviously wrecked with guilt and there was no point in adding wood to the fire. </p><p>"It's water under the bridge, Billy." </p><p>"Is it?" Billy asked. "Look around you, RJ. I did this." </p><p>"No," RJ said strongly. He knelt in front of Billy again and held his friend's shoulders. "Alphabet Soup did this. Not you, not Doctor K, not even Ashford-Simmons. Venjix did this. Alphabet Soup did this." </p><p>"I worked for Alphabet Soup." </p><p>"You worked for the Ashford-Simmons Institute in good faith, Billy. You were trying to help a student finish an interesting project. You didn't want to destroy the world," he pointed at the screen. "And neither did she." </p><p>"I wish there was something I could do..." </p><p>"There is," RJ said. "Help us fight against Venjix. Be a Power Ranger again." </p><p>"I can't fight like that anymore, RJ." </p><p>"If you feel you need training, I'll be happy to provide it," RJ said in a stern voice neither of them were expecting.  </p><p>Billy looked at him. "You are unwilling to fight yourself, RJ. Why should I fight a battle you don't want to fight yourself?" </p><p>"I have my reasons for not wanting to fight, Billy, but that doesn't mean I won't do it. Jen asked me to fix the morphers and I will, including my own. I have a lot of things to work out but I will fight this battle. Nobody can do it for me." </p><p>"I can't do it. I just can't." </p><p>"Why not?" </p><p>"I don't have a morpher, for starters." </p><p>"I'll make you one." </p><p>"I'm too old, RJ." </p><p>"You are looking for excuses not to face your creation," RJ spat, sounding to Billy more like a stern martial arts master than he had ever had. "Finding out you helped in the creation of Venjix should spur you to fight it harder, not to coward from it." </p><p>"I'm not being a coward, RJ, these powers are meant for teenagers." "They are not." </p><p>"How can you be sure?" </p><p>"I am." </p><p>"I wish I could be young again..." Billy whispered. </p><p>"You don't need to be young to be a Power Ranger." </p><p>"You can't be sure of that." </p><p>"Yes, I can." </p><p>"I am not being a coward, RJ. I just can't fight Venjix physically, I barely made it to Corinth." </p><p>“Then fight in another way. You helped her with the original antivirus, you helped her during the first battle against Venjix. Create an antivirus that works, one that forces Venjix into a corner and doesn't let it get away. Destroy Venjix in its own world, only you can do that, Billy. I can tear robots to shreds until my hands fall off but that will not destroy Venjix itself.” </p><p> </p><p>“I don’t even know if that can be done.” </p><p>“You helped create Venjix, you don’t get to cower away from this,” RJ almost growled.  </p><p>“I’m not being a coward!” Billy insisted. </p><p>"You are being a coward," RJ sentenced. "The sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll snap out of it. You made a mistake and you have to face the consequences so you can move on." </p><p>"Is that what happened to you?" Billy asked after a couple of seconds. "You made a mistake?"  </p><p>RJ swallowed hard and pursed his lips. "I made a lot of mistakes, Billy." </p><p>"Did you face the consequences to each one of them?" </p><p>"I tried," RJ growled through clenched teeth. </p><p>Silence fell between them when Billy sensed RJ was getting angry. He decided to stop pushing for answers RJ obviously didn't want to give. </p><p>"I have to go back home," Billy said, getting up. "I will take that training but I don't want the morpher, it's too dangerous. I'll be back later today, I have something there that can help with the repairs of Lauren and Chip's morphers." </p><p>RJ stood up and moved aside to let Billy walk towards the door. "Billy." </p><p>"Yes?" </p><p>"Forgive yourself." </p><p>"You are the master," Billy said, looking at his friend in the eye. "When you figure out how to do that, you can teach me." </p><p>With that, he walked out of the lab, leaving RJ standing there in silence, trying to process all the information. He felt a pang of pain on his chest and his hand moved to the ring hanging from his neck. </p><p>"He's one of us," he whispered. "Probably the only one we have left." His eyes caught sight of Doctor K on the screen and his chest hurt again. "We’ll find her and we’ll save her," he whispered. "But not like that, we are not doing that anymore." </p><p>He turned to the door to find Bridge standing there, looking at him with a puzzled expression. "Voices?" Bridge asked humorlessly. </p><p>"I have to finish lunch," RJ whispered, walking towards the door. </p><p>"It won't stop, you know?" Bridge said as RJ passed him. "It won't stop until you admit to it." </p><p>"What won't stop, exactly?" RJ said, turning to the psychic, making the officer flinch and lower his gaze. </p><p>"The anger," Bridge said in a very low voice. "The anger won't stop until you admit that you're feeling it." </p><p>RJ didn't answer him, choosing to make his way to the kitchen and grabbing the knife to keep chopping vegetables. He stood there, frozen, his sight fixed on the chopping block. </p><p>For the first time since he had become a chef, his knife hand was trembling.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Real Worth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Billy returned to the lab with a small duffel bag. He put it on the couch, opened it, looked at the contents and sighed. </p><p> </p><p>He took out a small device of his own creation and closed the bag again, leaving it on the couch. </p><p> </p><p>He made his way to the lab, where RJ was working on Lauren's morpher, through a complex set of lenses he had attached to a pair of safety googles; and Bridge was sitting at Jen's terminal, reading what seemed to be a long list of items. </p><p> </p><p>"RJ?" The former blue ranger called. </p><p>"Yes?" RJ answered, not looking up from the morpher.  </p><p>"I brought something for you." </p><p>RJ looked up at him, putting the goggles over his forehead. "I love presents." </p><p>"Well, this is more of a loan, actually." </p><p>"Oh." </p><p>Billy handed him the device. "It's a condenser," he explained while RJ looked at the device from every angle. "It's for fixing the connection to the Morphing Grid." He pointed in the direction of the table. </p><p>"Thanks," RJ said with a smile, setting the device on the work table. "It will come useful." </p><p>Billy smiled slightly and turned away from RJ, feeling very uncomfortable in the presence of his friend. </p><p>"Billy," RJ started, throwing a quick glance at Bridge to make sure the cadet was still distracted. "It's alright," he assured. Billy looked down and let out a sad sigh. RJ put his hand on Billy's shoulder. "Hey, you know what to do," he said and smiled slightly. Billy nodded and RJ smiled wider. "Write that antivirus, only you can do it." </p><p>"Right now, I need a break," Billy whispered. </p><p>"Then take a break," RJ conceded. "But then it's back to the fight, Billy. Don't surrender."  </p><p>"When was the last time you took a break from the fight?" Billy asked him. </p><p>RJ smirked, impressed by Billy's ability to pick up on his unsaid words. "It has been a while," RJ said. His expression turned dreamy and he smirked. "I have something in mind, though," he said mysteriously. </p><p>Billy turned to look at what RJ was looking at, smiled and shook his head. "I guess it's not meditation." </p><p>"It's a form of mediation," the other man said and turned back to the work table. "But for now, I have to finish this." </p><p>"RJ?" </p><p>"Yes?" </p><p>"Take that break," Billy said. "It's more important than anything." </p><p>"Who's the master now?" RJ asked, putting his goggles back over his eyes. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Billy walked out of the lab and found Chip on the kitchen area, looking gloomy. "Chip, is everything alright?" </p><p>Chip looked up at him. "Hey, I guess so." </p><p>"What's up?" Billy asked, opening the fridge and pulling out a carton of juice to pour himself a glass. </p><p>"Well, it's just... Never mind, you'll think I'm being stupid." </p><p>"Whatever is bothering you is not stupid," Billy said with an encouraging smile. </p><p>"It’s just… I see you guys in the lab, working to fix it, and now RJ is fixing morphers," he threw his hands up in an exasperated gesture. "And look at them," he added, pointing in the direction of the garage, where Jen and Lauren were sparring. "They're amazing at fighting," he then put his hands on his chest. "I'm useless to this team." </p><p>Billy looked at him, slightly confused. "You asked to join us." </p><p>"I know," Chip said. "But, in hindsight, that was a very stupid thing to do, I bring nothing to this team. You guys have no reason to keep me around." </p><p>"Chip, everybody willing to fight this battle is valuable. RJ mentioned you practice archery." </p><p>"Yes." </p><p>"Are you good?" </p><p>"I'm great," Chip said, but he didn't sound cheered up. "But what use is that? I couldn't find a proper position to fire from when the Grinders came to JKP. I'm useless." </p><p>"Chip, you are welcome here," Billy started. </p><p>"To offer what? Moral support?" Chip asked rather loudly. "Because I don't think I offer even that right now." He started walking away from the kitchen. </p><p>"Chip!" Billy called after him. </p><p>Chip stopped and turned, he looked at Billy, threw a glance over the blue ranger's shoulder and rolled his eyes. </p><p>Billy looked over his shoulder and saw RJ walking out of the lab, his goggles no longer on his head. </p><p>"I don't want a pep talk," Chip warned. </p><p>RJ showed him the palms of his hands to indicate his surrender. He opened the fridge and poured himself some juice on a glass, in absolute silence. </p><p>"You're not useless, Chip," Billy said. </p><p>"Yes, I am!" Chip almost yelled. "Magic was the only thing that made me special and I don't have it anymore!" </p><p>"Woah, woah," RJ interrupted, raising his glass. "Magic is not what made you special, Chip. You make yourself special, your good sense of humor, your positive energy, your good vibes... they have nothing to do with magic powers." </p><p>"Look at all my good vibes now," Chip muttered bitterly. </p><p>Billy and RJ exchanged a look. "Chip, we know how you feel," Billy said. Chip scoffed. "Well, I do, really." </p><p>"I do too," RJ added. </p><p>"How could either one of you ever feel useless?" Chip demanded. "You're a genius and he's a kung fu master!" He looked at them and threw his hands in the air again. "In fact, you're both geniuses and kung fu masters!" </p><p>"I'm not a genius," RJ said, shaking his head.  </p><p>"And I'm not a kung fu master." </p><p>"You are fixing morphers!" Chip accused, pointing at RJ. "So don't tell me you're not a genius. And you have to be at least a very good fighter!" </p><p>Both wolves remained silent. </p><p>"See?!" Chip yelled. "How could either of you ever feel useless?" </p><p>"Because we weren't always like this, Chip," RJ said softly. "I know it's hard to believe, but I wasn't born a kung fu master, in fact, I was very bad when I started out." </p><p>"Right." </p><p>RJ seemed stung and looked at Billy. </p><p>"Chip, when I was first chosen to be a Power Ranger, I thought it was only because I was friends with the others," Billy started. "I mean, how could I -the world's least coordinated person ever- be a superhero? Who would ever choose me to be a superhero?" </p><p>"You had your brains," Chip said. "You were there to help with the brainy stuff." </p><p>"That's what I thought," Billy said. "But my friends weren't stupid. Most of the stuff I helped them figure out, they would have figured out themselves, perhaps it would have taken them longer, but they would have figured them out." </p><p>"You are a genius!" </p><p>"And yet, I was chosen to be a Power Ranger because of my heart, not because of my brain." Chip scoffed and rolled his eyes. </p><p>"I mean it, I was given the chance to walk away, Chip, but I didn't. I stayed because I felt it was the right thing to do. I couldn't fight, I couldn't even see without my glasses, but I was willing to fight for my planet." Chip remained quiet, looking at the floor. "I was very scared and I thought I didn't have anything useful to bring to that battle, just like I didn't think I had anything to bring to this battle, but I was wrong. I had the will to fight and that alone made me valuable. The will to fight this battle, makes me valuable now." RJ looked at Billy, his eyes sparkling with joy, but he didn't say anything. He didn't even smile. "And if that's all you bring to this battle, just your will to fight against Venjix, your will to fight for what's right, then that makes you more than useful, it makes you valuable. It makes you important." </p><p>"I just..." Chip started, looking at them. "I just wish I had something less default to bring to this battle, something more substantial, like my magic." </p><p>RJ scoffed. "Dude, so you can't perform spells anymore, who cares?" <br/>"I care." </p><p>"Okay, but why?" </p><p>"Because I have nothing else!" </p><p>"Yes, you do," RJ said. "Chip, you are your own kind of genius." </p><p>"Right, more like my own kind of idiot." </p><p>"I've seen you at the restaurant, the way you wait the tables, help with the kitchen and collect, man, I used to have five people do what you and Lauren do by yourselves and they weren't as good as you two are. And it's mostly because you're a great strategist, you make the plan, and Lauren helps you carry it out and it's always a success." </p><p>"So I'm good at waiting tables, I'm sure that will defeat Venjix." </p><p>"You are a great strategist," RJ insisted. "That is a very rare skill, Chip. I'm sure with the right information, you could foresee Venjix's next move and work a plan to stop it." </p><p>"You put too much faith in my chess skills." </p><p>"You sell yourself short," RJ corrected. "Foreseeing an enemy's next move and planning a way to defeat them is what makes great warriors, Chip." </p><p>"Whatever." </p><p>"That's what made me a master," RJ told him. "I wasn't particularly coordinated or strong or wise. I was smart. Not a genius, Chip, just smarter than the other guy." </p><p>"That's hard to believe." </p><p>"You know, not everything I say is a lie," RJ said, sounding slightly insulted. "I'm serious. All it takes is being smarter than the other guy, Chip. </p><p>"The other guy is an almighty computer virus," Chip reminded him. </p><p>"Venjix is powerful but he's not almighty," RJ cleared. </p><p>"And he can be outsmarted," Billy added. "He is a very complex program but he is still a computer program. He's not intelligent, Chip, he takes data and reacts to it, he doesn't analyze it, not like a human would." </p><p>"Not like you would," RJ said. </p><p>"You really think I can be useful?" <br/>"Yes," both wolves said in unison. </p><p>"And you are great moral support," RJ added, putting his hand on Chip's shoulder. "I have seen you smile when everybody else was frowning, Chip, and that takes real strength." </p><p>"I can't smile my way out of everything," Chip said. </p><p>"Yes, you can. You can smile your way through everything and that, my friend, makes you invaluable to this team." </p><p>Chip finally looked in better spirits and even smiled slightly. "Yeah, well, you're all a bunch of grumps." </p><p>"We are," RJ said. "And that's why we need you." Chip smiled. </p><p>Billy went to the couch and pulled something out of the bag. "Do you still play, Chip?" He asked, showing him what he was holding. </p><p>It was a chess set. </p><p>"Oh, boy, do I?" The redhead said with a wide smile. </p><p>Billy pointed at the kitchen counter and they sat down to play. </p><p> </p><p>RJ looked up and saw Jen and Lauren had stopped sparring and were looking at them. Jen caught his eye and smiled at him. </p><p>He smiled back before he could stop himself.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Seeing Stars</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>RJ lay on his back on the roof of the garage, looking up at the dome, reflecting about the day. </p><p>He smiled at the thought of Chip, who had spent the afternoon playing chess with Billy, to the unbelievable result of Chip winning ten times straight until Billy caught up to his strategy. RJ didn't like chess very much, but he was glad they had had fun. </p><p>Bridge had been reading on Jen's terminal all day, taking several breaks to just stare at him from the other side of the lab. He had caught the cadet staring and had smiled in what he hoped had been a reassuring way, but Bridge looked scared every time and returned to his reading. RJ wondered what he was reading about, he was sure Bridge must have something in mind. </p><p>Jen and Lauren had spent the afternoon training on the garage space, he had heard them grunting and laughing as they sparred. At one point, he had walked out of the lab to get a drink and had seen them sword fighting expertly. He had watched while he drank his water, impressed by their skill.  </p><p>After spending all afternoon working on Lauren's morpher, RJ had made his way to the roof and had laid on his back, looking up at the dome hoping to find peace and calm, but the dome just failed to bring him that sense of oneness with the universe the real night sky used to give him. </p><p>The door to the roof opened and Jen walked out. "There you are." </p><p>"Hey." </p><p>"What are you doing?" She asked, sitting next to him. </p><p>"Staring at the ceiling," he said, pointing at the dome's fake starry night.  </p><p>"It's a beautiful starry night," she commented, looking up as well. </p><p>"It's all wrong," he commented. </p><p>"What's all wrong?" She laid next to him as she asked this.  </p><p>"The stars, they're all wrong." </p><p>"How can the stars be wrong?" She asked, turning to him. </p><p>He looked at her and smiled. She kept forgetting about the dome. "It's fake, Jen," he reminded. "The stars on the dome are not the real sky and it's obvious." </p><p>She looked at the dome again. "Is it?"  </p><p>"Yes." </p><p>She looked at the dome and he looked at her, a small smile on his face. She turned to him. "The constellations are there, I mean, I don’t know much about astronomy, but I can recognize some of them." </p><p>"They're all there," he agreed, still looking at her. "But they're in the wrong place." </p><p>She held his stare. "What do you mean?" </p><p>"They're not where they should be if you're looking at them from this position on Earth." </p><p>"Oh." She looked up at the fake stars and back to him again. "You must be big on astronomy." </p><p>"I like my stars, yes," he whispered. "Out of all of the things Venjix took from me, I think I miss the stars the most." </p><p>Silence fell and they just lay there, looking at each other. She sat up. "Listen, RJ, I wanted to say I'm sorry." </p><p>He sat up too. "What for?"  </p><p>"I've been very harsh on you." </p><p>He smiled. "I get on people's nerves. Specially people like you." </p><p>"People like me?" </p><p>"Yeah, like you and Billy," he smiled and licked his lips quickly. "You know, the self-proclaimed rational ones." </p><p>She snickered. "I see," she put her hand on his shoulder. "Listen, when I said you hadn't given me any reason to trust you--" </p><p>"You meant it."  </p><p>"Not really."  </p><p>"Right." </p><p>"I meant you could open up a little bit." </p><p>He snickered and pointed at her with his index finger. "You have no authority to ask me to open up." </p><p>"I told you about my ex," she defended, sounding insulted.  </p><p>"No, you didn't. You didn't even tell me his name." </p><p>"Alex. His name is Alex." He nodded but said nothing. "This is the part where you share something back." </p><p>He remained silent for a few seconds and then said: "I wasn't really captured by Venjix."  </p><p>She looked at him and nodded, unfazed by his revelation. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" </p><p>"Not really," he admitted. "There's something about you that makes me want to open up to you," he told her and got up, to look over the ledge. </p><p>"And yet…" she whispered, following him. </p><p>"It's not that I don't want to tell anyone," he said. "It's that I can't." </p><p>"I did pretty awful things when I was at war," she admitted, looking down at the street. "Many things I'm not proud of. Many things I can't tell anyone." </p><p> </p><p>RJ looked down at the street too, his hand slipping into his pants pocket and finding his bandanna there. He ran his thumb over the fabric. "I think everybody's done things they're not proud of." He pulled his hand out of his pocket and it immediately went to the ring hanging from his neck, without him noticing. </p><p>"I held on to a ring for a very long time, too," she commented, looking at his hand. "It was the only physical connection I had to Alex when I thought he was dead," she pointed at his neck. "Whose ring is that? How does it help you control your spirit?" </p><p>"It's nobody's," he whispered, moving his hand away from the ring. </p><p>"You don't have to tell me," she whispered, looking down at the street again. </p><p>"I mean it's mine," he added. "It doesn't connect me to anybody else, only to myself. To who I used to be." </p><p>"Who you used to be before Venjix?" </p><p>"So much falls into that category," he said, shaking his head, his eyes closed. He had a pained expression on his face. </p><p>"I guessed it meant a lot to you, because you looked for it so desperately when you dropped it," she commented. </p><p>"Dropped it?" He sounded genuinely confused. </p><p>"Yes, when your restaurant was attacked," she reminded him. He swallowed hard and nodded slowly. "You dropped it and looked for it like your life depended on it when you finished with the Grinders." </p><p>He looked at her fixedly and she gave him a small smile and a shrug. He sighed. "I didn't drop it," he whispered. "I took it off." </p><p>“What for?” </p><p>“I have to take it off before battle. I told you it’s like a leash, it keeps my animal spirit in the spirit world, away from me." </p><p>"Why would you want that?" </p><p>"Because it's very angry," RJ admitted, his eyes welling up. "It's rabid, you saw. I can't regain control over it, it won't listen to me." He swallowed hard. "And it was affecting my behavior. So, I had to get away from it." </p><p>"Affecting your behavior how? Was it your animal spirit that made you rage against those Grinders like that?" </p><p>He nodded, swallowing hard again. "For two years, I fought my own war against Venjix. No morpher, no plan, just me, my rabid animal spirit and stupid idea after stupid idea. I blew up factories, broke open prisoner camps. I just rampaged against Venjix, feeling like I would never get enough of that." </p><p>"Why? What happened?" </p><p>"I snapped," he whispered. "It has happened before." </p><p>"Did Venjix's return made your spirit angry again?" </p><p>"That's the thing, it never stopped being angry. It never calmed down, its desire to keep destroying robots never stopped." </p><p>"What about you?"  </p><p>"What about me?" </p><p>"Are you still angry at Venjix?" She put her hand on his arm. "You mentioned your animal spirit is a part of you." </p><p>He looked at her and inhaled deeply. "Yes. Venjix made me do a lot of stupid things, it turned me back into a man I thought I would never be again and I just can't get back to being me." </p><p>She chuckled. "Sometimes it sounds like you've lived hundreds of years." </p><p>He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. "Yeah, sometimes it feels like I have." </p><p>"Perhaps you just need a little help," she whispered, looking into his green eyes. "I know what that feels like, you know? Wanting revenge so bad you'd risk your own life to get it." She moved her hand to his jaw and caressed his beard softly. "When I thought Ransik had killed Alex, all I could think about was destroying him, to the point where I once risked my life going after him alone." </p><p>"Did you destroy him?" </p><p>"No. I got past my desire of revenge."  </p><p>"How?" </p><p>"I found something else to focus on," she moved closer to him and took his hand in hers. "Someone else to focus on." </p><p>A small, mischievous smile appeared on his face. "What are you suggesting?"  </p><p>She shrugged. "Find something else to hold on to." </p><p>"That is a very good suggestion," he whispered, smiling at her. She smiled back at him and squeezed his hand. </p><p>Without another word, he pulled her closer to him and wrapped his other arm around her waist, pressing his lips against hers for a deep kiss. He was surprised when she kissed him back just as deeply, giving into their shared moment. He sucked her lower lip softly and she slipped her tongue inside his mouth. He groaned softly and pulled her even closer. She wrapped her arms around his neck as their tongues caressed each other, their kiss growing more passionate. Her mouth tasted like mint, and his like something spicy and strong. His hands slid down to her buttocks and she groaned into his mouth, kissing him even deeper. She liked the way he smelled. It was manly and reminded her of something savage and untamed, yet it wasn’t unpleasant. </p><p>After what felt like forever, but couldn’t have been more than a minute, he broke the kiss but didn't let her go, pressing his forehead against hers. </p><p> </p><p>"Okay," she whispered. </p><p>"Okay is good," he whispered back. "Okay is better than the sharp slap I was expecting." They both chuckled and he let her go. "It was a good kiss," she told him. </p><p>"Thanks. Although, I'm a little out of practice." </p><p>"Well, you know what they say, practice makes--" She looked down at the street again and pushed him aside to take a closer look at something she had spotted. RJ followed her sight and saw someone moving on the street, trying to remain in the dark. "Is that Billy?" </p><p>"I'm not sure," he said. He looked at the silhouette until the person walking had no option but walking into the light briefly. "Yes, that is Billy." </p><p>"Where is he going?"  </p><p>"No idea." </p><p>"Do you think we should follow him?" </p><p>"Yes," he walked towards the door. "Come on, before we lose him." </p><p>She walked to the door but stopped before going into the building. "About that kiss--"  </p><p>"We'll finish what we started later," he promised. "Duty calls."</p>
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<a name="section0015"><h2>15. A drink and a cut</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Billy walked away from the garage, trying to remain in the shadows. He didn't want anyone to see him and ask questions about what he was about to do. </p><p>RJ's words about the Ranger powers not being exclusively for youngsters had fallen on deaf ears, but he knew he had to join the others in the physical battle, because there would be one, it was the next logical steps for Venjix: creating a new army and trying to destroy Corinth again. </p><p>He walked about three blocks away from the garage and found himself in one of Corinth's many parks. There was an area that was almost pitch black, the trees were covering the street lights and that was exactly what he needed. </p><p>He stood near a tree and took a deep breath. He looked at the container in his hand: it was made of aluminum and had a screw-in cover that sealed it shut almost hermetically. </p><p>He put the bottle in front of him and looked at it, taking another deep breath. "What are you doing, Billy?" He asked himself in a whisper. </p><p>But he had to do it. He wasn't in bad shape, he had kept working out and training in martial arts as he had learned from Jason and Tommy –and much later, from RJ- but his body was obviously not what it had been before. He was almost sure his body wouldn't be able to hold ranger powers if he didn't do this. </p><p>He closed his eyes, trying to steel his resolve. It wasn't a pleasant idea. He had put a brave face for the other rangers, but drinking water from Aquitar's Eternal Falls didn't cause a pleasant, tickling sensation. It was painful and confusing and very, very far from pleasant. </p><p>"I think two sips would be enough," he whispered to himself. "Don't want to turn into a teenager again, only knock back a couple of years." </p><p>As he reached for the bottles, he heard a noise coming from the direction of the garage. His head spun rapidly and his eyes scouted the dark, trying to see any figures in the dark. Could it be Grinders? </p><p>He waited a few seconds and the sound didn't repeat, so he reached for the bottle again. He unscrewed the cap and brought it to his lips. Closing his eyes and letting out one last resigned breath, he took a large gulp of the bottle's contents and screwed the cap back on as quickly as he could. </p><p>He dropped the bottle as his insides started to feel like they were on fire. He felt dizzy and disoriented and dropped to the floor, clutching his abdomen. Then his face started to feel like it was melting and he covered it with his hands, trying to drown out as much of his pained screams as he could. </p><p>He was lost in his pain and disorientation when he felt a pair of strong hands grab him by the shoulders and turn him over. </p><p>"Let me see," he heard a voice he had heard before whisper urgently next to him. "Come on, man, let me see," he heard again and felt the hands grab his wrists and try to pull his hands away from his face. </p><p>"It hurts!" Billy groaned. </p><p>"What did you take?" The soft voice asked him. </p><p>"It hurts..." Billy repeated, feeling his entire body on fire. </p><p>"RJ, his heart rate is very accelerated and his temperature is very high," he heard another voice say. </p><p>"Can you give him something for the pain?" RJ asked, closer to Billy.  </p><p>"Not without knowing what he took." </p><p>"The bottle," RJ told his companion. "Can you see what's in it?" </p><p>Billy grasped RJ's wrists and dug his fingernails in the other man's flesh. "The bottle... don't... leave it..." </p><p>"What's in it, Billy?" RJ asked, apparently completely unfazed by Billy's nails.  </p><p>"Leave it..." </p><p>"Ok," RJ said softly. "Leave the bottle," he told his companion. </p><p>"It doesn't matter, I don't know what's in it. It reads as water, there's nothing poisonous in it, absolutely nothing." </p><p>"Stop," Billy panted. </p><p>"It's okay, man," RJ whispered. "We've got you, it's alright." </p><p>Billy let go off RJ's wrists and lay there panting, the pain finally subsiding but his sense of disorientation still very present. </p><p>"Where... Where..." </p><p>"In Corinth City, Billy," RJ answered. "You walked out of the garage towards a park and drank from a bottle. Do you remember?" </p><p>"Who are you?" He asked the other man, when he opened his eyes. </p><p>"It's me, RJ," the Wolf Master said, running his hand over Billy's forehead, to sweep away the sweat. "And Jen's here with me." </p><p>"Who's Jen?" </p><p>"It's okay," he heard a woman say next to him. "Take it easy, breathe," she instructed. He heard a soft whirring noise and saw a flash of blue light. </p><p>"How is he?" RJ asked, still looking down at Billy, looking strikingly like a concerned father. </p><p>"His vitals are slowly returning to normal," she told him. "His temperature is back down, and he seems to be breathing normally, his heart beat is regular and his blood oxygen levels are normal." </p><p>RJ simply nodded, his gaze still on Billy. After a minute, Billy's mind started to return to normal and he could finally recognize his friends. </p><p>"What are you doing here?" He asked hoarsely. "How did you find me?" </p><p>"We were on the roof of the garage, we saw you sneaking out and decide to follow you," Jen told him, her attention on a device she was pointing at him with a steady hand. </p><p>"What did you take?" RJ asked seriously. "Billy, what did you just do?" </p><p>Billy sat up and RJ wasted no time in putting his arm around his waist, holding him in place. </p><p>"I'm fine, RJ," Billy complained, dismissively. RJ didn't let go. "I said I'm fine," Billy snapped, looking at RJ's face. </p><p>RJ pursed his lips and looked at Jen. He rolled his eyes and let Billy go. </p><p>"What did you take?" RJ asked again. "I don't need to tell you what this looks like, do I?"  </p><p>"Actually, yes, you do," Billy told him. </p><p>RJ looked at Jen and licked his lips. "Jen, can you give us a minute?" </p><p>"Sure," she said, getting up and walking away from them, putting her device back in storage. </p><p> </p><p>RJ looked at Billy, the best he could in the dark space, and put his hand on the blue ranger's shoulder. "Did you just try to kill yourself?" He asked point-blank. </p><p>"What?!" Billy shook the other man's hand off his shoulder. "Of course not, what the hell?"  </p><p>"I had to ask, especially after what we talked about before." </p><p>"No, RJ, I didn't try to kill myself," Billy assured him. "Quite the opposite, actually."  </p><p>"What do you mean?" </p><p>Billy grabbed the bottle and showed it to RJ. "This bottle contains water from Aquitar's Eternal Falls. Remember I mentioned going to Aquitar to recover my youth?" </p><p>"Yes." </p><p>"Well, I brought some back, just in case. I drank some of it to set my body back a few years, with the intention of joining any physical battles that may come in the future." </p><p>"Billy, I told you these powers--" </p><p>"Are for teenagers and, maybe, young adults, RJ, I know how they work." </p><p>"I know how they work too, I've made morphers myself, Billy. And I told you, you don't have to be young to be a Power Ranger." </p><p>"You failed to mention how you know that," Billy said. "As far as I know, your students were around 18, your friend Dom was 21 and you were 23." </p><p>"25," RJ corrected automatically. "I can't tell you how I know but I know for a fact that your age has nothing to do with--" </p><p>"It has to do with whether your body is strong enough to hold the power," Billy informed him. "Your body's physical strength is crucial to determine whether you can hold the powers or not." </p><p>"That's not necessarily true," RJ insisted but then decided to give up. "Okay, so you drank the water. Did something go wrong? Why were you writhing on the floor in pain?" </p><p>"Because having each cell of your body reprogramed to behave against its nature is an unsurprisingly painful process, RJ." </p><p>RJ looked at him but said nothing. He pursed his lips slightly and nodded. "Are you feeling better?" </p><p>"Yes, the pain only lasts for a couple of minutes."  </p><p>"How long does the effect of the water last?"  </p><p>"What do you mean?" </p><p>"How long will you be younger?" </p><p>"The effect is permanent, RJ, my cells were made younger and they will start to age again from there." </p><p>"How old are you now, then?" </p><p>"I calculate around 25, I'd have to see myself in the mirror to be sure." </p><p>"You will need a morpher," RJ whispered, avoiding eye-contact, although looking at Billy's face was hard in the dark anyway. "I've been working on one, for you." </p><p>"Thank you," Billy said. "You were right," he looked in the general direction Jen had walked away in, to check she was far away enough from them. "Discovering what I did should make me want to fight Venjix harder, and it did. The team will not be complete without a blue ranger. I'll take that morpher." </p><p>"I'm making it work with your animal spirit, so your armor may not be the one you're used to." </p><p>"It's alright, as long as it's blue," Billy said, moving to get up. RJ got up faster and helped his friend to his feet. "I'm fine, RJ, really." </p><p>RJ looked at him unconvinced. "If you say so." </p><p>As they walked towards Jen, Billy threw a side glance at RJ and asked: "What were you and Jen doing together on the roof of the garage?" </p><p>"We were looking at the stars," RJ answered with a smirk.  </p><p>"Right." </p><p>"And we may have kissed."  </p><p>"May?" </p><p>"Well, no," RJ corrected. "We did kiss. We may have done something a lot more interesting if you hadn't decided to sneak out at that exact moment." </p><p>"Well, don't let me stop you," Billy told him, patting him on the back. “Go for it." </p><p> </p><p>They reached Jen and she turned around to look at them. RJ looked at her eyes and blushed under his stubble. </p><p>"What?" She asked. </p><p>He shook his head. "Nothing." </p><p>Billy smiled and started walking back towards the garage. "I'll see you back home," he told them, leaving them behind. </p><p>RJ stood there, looking at Jen. </p><p>"What?" She asked again, with a nervous laugh. </p><p>He caressed her face and leaned in to steal a kiss. "It's nothing, really," he insisted, taking her hand. "Let's go home." </p><p> </p><p>Outside of the dome, prisoner inside her own mind, Doctor K looked at the bright red number on the ceiling. She was so close to losing control of her actions. </p><p>"Doctor," he heard Venjix ask from behind her, still using Ziggy's looks and voice.  </p><p>"What do you want Venjix?" </p><p>"Who is Dr. William Cranston?" </p><p>Venjix was standing next to her chair, very close to her. She avoided looking at him by typing frantically on the black keyboard in front of her. </p><p>"Never heard of him." </p><p>"Really?" Venjix asked, grabbing the keyboard and throwing away. It smashed against the wall. "That's curious," he continued, sitting on the small table in front of her. "Because I learned his name from your memories," he put a hand on the top of her head and forced her face up, so she was looking at him. "Who is William Cranston?" </p><p>"He gave me assistance with some projects when I was in Alphabet Soup, I've never met him."  </p><p>"Did he give you assistance in this project?" Venjix asked, putting his hands on his chest.  </p><p>"What do you mean?" </p><p>"I hate it when you play dumb, K, it cuts my patience short."  </p><p>"Yes, he helped me with you, Venjix." </p><p>"What exactly did he help you with?" </p><p>She remained silent. Venjix rolled his eyes, Ziggy's eyes, and she felt something cold in her hand and a sharp tip pressed against her thigh. She looked down at her leg but saw nothing. </p><p> </p><p>"My patience is wearing thin, K," Venjix threatened. “I’m very close to stab you in the thigh with a pair of scissors.” </p><p>Feeling the cold of the metal on her leg, she surrendered. "He helped me with the antivirus and the firewall.” </p><p>"Is he in Corinth?" </p><p>"I don't know." She stopped feeling the tip on her thigh but she could still feel she was still holding the scissors.  </p><p>“You’re about to stab yourself so you should talk, and very quickly.” </p><p>"Yes!” She surrendered again, not wanting to feel anymore pain. “He's in Corinth. He helped me when my ranger team was fighting your army." </p><p>"Alright, then," Venjix said, getting up. "I guess it's time to send more Grinders, they have to be kept distracted long enough. I will admit sending Grinders against your pizza friend didn't work as planned, but you understand my desire to make sure the only other human who can stop me is properly taken care of." </p><p>"I won't help you with anything, Venjix." </p><p>Venjix looked at K and she stared back at him, her face a mask of resolution. He started laughing. </p><p>"Look at the number on the ceiling, K," he told her. "I only have to wait a couple of hours and you won't have a choice but to do whatever I ask you to do. I don't need this part of your mind, I only need your knowledge and to control your body. In time, you will make me a new attack bot." She swallowed hard, trying very hard not to start crying. "If it makes you feel better, you probably won't even know you did." </p><p>"You won't win, Venjix. You will be defeated over and over." </p><p>"I've already won," he whispered in her ear and disappeared. She felt her hair fall down her shoulders, feeling the hot air on her scalp. She ran a hand over her head and felt that her hair had been cut almost at the root. She sobbed, without her hair, she felt more like a prisoner than she ever thought she would. </p><p>This was a battle she wasn't going to win. </p><p>She crossed her arms and curled onto herself. She was completely powerless. Her only hope now was to be rescued. </p><p>But by whom?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Out on a limb</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When they got back to the garage, Billy said good night to Jen and RJ and hurried to his room, to shower and see how old his body was now. </p><p> </p><p>RJ and Jen watched him walk away and stood there, in awkward silence. "So... that was that," RJ commented with a shrug. </p><p>"What was that, exactly?" She asked, turning to him. </p><p>"He... he took some measures because he has incorrect information." </p><p>"Wow!" She chuckled. "You've really taken the whole 'choosing your words carefully' thing to a whole new level." </p><p>"Well, it's not really my place to say." </p><p> "Did he try to hurt himself?" </p><p>"No. He's not that kind of person."  </p><p>"Okay." </p><p>Silence fell between them again, and he swallowed hard, looked around to make sure nobody was watching and took her hand. She grasped his fingers in hers and smiled at him. He pulled her closer to him and she followed his lead. </p><p> </p><p>"So," he started. "Should we finish what we started on the roof?"  </p><p>"Sounds like a plan," she whispered and smiled at him. </p><p>She led the walk to her room and entered one step ahead of him. The second he crossed the threshold, he wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her back to him, burying his face in her neck. </p><p> </p><p>She let out a small sigh of pleasure and he closed the door behind them. Still kissing her neck and jaw, he locked it. </p><p>She turned in his embrace and kissed him on the lips, their tongues finding their way to each other's mouth quickly, as they started exploring each other, both full of curiosity about what their new lover liked. </p><p>She slid her hands under his shirt, running them up his back and abdomen, feeling his defined and tense muscles under the soft skin. He groaned when the caresses moved to the chest and the kisses moved to his jaw and neck. She obviously knew what she wanted and how to get it. </p><p> </p><p>He felt her fingers sliding down his body towards his belt buckle and kissed her on the lips again, putting his hands on her buttocks and pulling her to him. </p><p>They took the two steps that separated them from the bed, still kissing, and he broke the kiss by gently pushing her to the bed. She fell back on it and smiled at him. He licked his lips and took off his shirt, noticing his pants were already undone. </p><p> </p><p>He leaned in and kissed her, grabbed the hem of her shirt and took it off. Her breasts were still held by a pink sports bra and she bit her lips when his hungry gaze fell on them. His green eyes found her brown ones and both pairs sparkled with the joy of anticipation. </p><p> </p><p>She moved forward and pulled his pants down, her eyes still on his. He smiled at her and got out of his pants, leaving them on the floor. She had found well-filled boxer briefs under the jeans and it was now her gaze that had turned hungry and intense. </p><p> </p><p>He kissed her again, gently pushing her on her back, he supported his weight on one arm and ran his free hand down from her jaw, to her breast, to her hips. He buried his face in her neck again, trailing small kisses all the way down to her chest, his stubble tickling the skin his soft lips set on fire. </p><p> </p><p>"Undress me," she begged in a whisper. </p><p> </p><p>He got up again and put his hands on her waist, hooking his fingers in the hem of her pants and slowly pulling them down, the tips of his fingers running down her legs. He noticed she took in a sharp breath and held it while his hands travelled down her legs. He took off her shoes and slid the pants off completely. He ran his hands up her legs and felt she tensed up again. He kissed her left thigh and then the right one and when he looked up at her face, it was tense and had a worried expression. </p><p> </p><p>"We don't have to do this if you don't want to," he told her, stepping back.  </p><p>"I do want to," she told him, opening her eyes. </p><p>"Your mouth says one thing and the rest of your body says something else." </p><p>"It's--" She took a deep breath. "It's nothing. It has nothing to do with what you, what we, are doing. I really want to do this with you, I'm not lying." </p><p>"I'm not saying you're lying," he lay on the bed next to her and put his hand on her abdomen. "But you're not comfortable and I can't carry on like this." </p><p>"It's okay, really, it's nothing." </p><p>"Looks like something to me," he moved his hand to her hair and caressed it away from her face. "A very important something." </p><p>"I was in a war before coming here. I've got... souvenirs, if you will." </p><p>"Souvenirs?" </p><p>"Yes." </p><p>"I won't think you are any less beautiful if you have scars, Jen." </p><p>"It's not a scar. It's something worse." </p><p> He took a few seconds to try to understand what she was saying. "Jen, they didn't—I mean, you weren't—Nobody forced you to--" </p><p>"No, no, no, no!" She put her hand on his jaw and caressed his beard. "No. Everything I did, I did because I wanted to. Maybe not for the right reasons but I wanted to. I would have torn their balls off, no." </p><p>He chuckled at her comment and she smiled. "Then what is it?" </p><p>She looked at his chest and bit her lips again, this time nervously. "I told you there were things about the war I couldn't tell anyone." </p><p>"I won't judge you, Jen. I have a very open mind." </p><p>"Really?" She asked. He nodded. "Share with me what Venjix did to make you snap and I'll tell you my war story." </p><p>He looked at her eyes and caressed her hair again. He leaned towards her and kissed her, then got up to grab his pants from the floor. </p><p>"I guessed as much," she whispered. </p><p>He put his hand in the pants pocket and took out his fern print bandanna. He let the pants fall to the floor again and sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard. He invited her to sit next to him with a move of his head. She moved to him and they sat there, next to each other, in their underwear. He showed her the bandanna. </p><p> </p><p>"This is my favorite bandanna," he started, his gaze fixed on the fabric. "I have more than a dozen, they match the uniform and they keep my hair back while I'm cooking, but this is my favorite one," She moved her hand towards the bandanna and he handed it to her. "You said you once had a ring you felt was your only connection to Alex, when you thought he was dead. Well, that bandanna is my only connection to someone." She looked at him, her expression serious. She put her hand on his biceps and gave him the bandanna back. "Her name was Fran." </p><p> </p><p>"Was she someone special?" </p><p> </p><p>"Yes, she was," he said and smiled in spite of himself. "She was caring and loyal and loving," he closed his mouth and swallowed hard. </p><p> </p><p>"She sounds great." </p><p> </p><p>"She was the best friend I've ever had," he said with a broken voice, his eyes welling up. "And trust me, I've had a lot of friends." </p><p> </p><p>"A special friend?" </p><p> </p><p>He looked at her and snickered. "Not that kind of special friend," he shook his head with his eyes closed and raised his eyebrows. "Not at all that kind of special friend. She was just a friend, who was very special to me." </p><p> </p><p>"I see," she whispered, resting her head on his shoulder. He rested his head on it. </p><p> </p><p>"Venjix's forces, mainly Grinders, had been attacking Ocean Bluff, the city where we lived, for a while. But Ocean Bluff had been through something similar, with Dai Shi and its Rin Shi –who were the reason yours truly became a Power Ranger- and people weren't as scared of them as they should have been. And Fran was something else. She was brave to the point of being reckless sometimes." </p><p> </p><p>"Was she a kung fu master too?" </p><p> </p><p>"No, but I do suspect she was a wolf. I never got around to checking if she was, but she helped me regain control of my wolf with a single touch of her hand." </p><p> </p><p>"Regain control of your wolf?" </p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, like I said, the wolf is a fickle creature. Dai Shi attacked it and tainted it in some way I still don't really understand, and it made me turn into a werewolf for several nights in a row. My students didn't notice there was something wrong with me, only Fran did. And even after I had to tell them about the werewolf thing, Fran chose to stay alone with me, knowing I could turn at any moment and hurt her." </p><p> </p><p>"That sounds brave to the point of recklessness." </p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, she could be so head-strong," He went silent for a few seconds and she took his hand in hers. "Anyway, she worked at my restaurant in Ocean Bluff and one time, she decided to stay late to help me do the inventory of the ingredients and tools. We were so busy counting cans and tomatoes, we lost track of time and when we looked up, it was dark. I offered to walk her home and she refused, because I'd have to walk back alone. I asked her to spend the night, I had a loft over the restaurant, but she called me silly. I offered to call Dom, her boyfriend, to come get her, she said it was the same thing as me walking her home. She said she'd be fine, because, why would Venjix want her? I tried to stop her, but once she made up her mind, she was like a train. You could get on board or get run over but she wasn't stopping." </p><p>"She sounds like the kind of woman I'd like to spend time with." </p><p> </p><p>"You would have loved her," he told her with a smile. "She walked out of the restaurant, it was still early, I guess. I followed her all the way to the sidewalk and she ordered me to go back inside and lock myself in. I told her I'd watch over her until she was out of sight. She was about a block away from the restaurant when the Grinders came down the street. They spotted her. She was anything but stupid and turned back to me, running as fast as she could. They shot at her, thankfully they missed. She made it back to the restaurant with a patrol of Grinders at her heel. I pulled her inside and locked the door behind her. I... I..." He took a deep breath and tangled his fingers with hers. "I pushed her into the pantry and gave her this," he held the bandanna for her to see. "I told her to hold on to it because it was my favorite. I told her to stay still and quiet, closed the door and put a table in front of it. I heard the Grinders break into the restaurant, still following her, hell bent on killing her. She asked me to stay in the pantry with her, but I ignored her. I walked towards the Grinders, one of them took a wooden giraffe figurine from one of the tables, looked at me and snapped it in half, just because it could." </p><p>She could feel him trembling softly, his eyes turning a dark, almost violet. She kissed his shoulder and he sniffed, kissing her forehead. </p><p> </p><p>"I don't remember anything else until Casey, a fellow ranger, put me in the cold shower," he sighed. "I was covered in bruises and cuts, it felt like every inch of my body hurt. I was bleeding. Nothing serious, but still, I was hurt. I went back downstairs and Casey said I had already checked if Fran was there. I didn't remember. She was gone and the restaurant was trashed. But, worse of all, it was littered in Grinder pieces. Grinders call for help when they are attacked. The patrol that followed Fran was followed by at least two more. I destroyed them all and I don't remember anything at all. I found the bandanna on the floor of the pantry and that was when I snapped. I never regained control of my animal spirit. That night, in a fit of anger and frustration I destroyed my own loft. When I came back to my senses, I packed my bag and left, leaving everybody who knew me to think I had been captured or killed by Venjix." </p><p> </p><p>"What did you do after?" </p><p> </p><p>"I spent two years breaking into every single Venjix factory and prisoner camp I could find, destroying as many of its robots as I could. At first, trying to find her, and later, to avenge her, because the furthest I got from Ocean Bluff, the more certain I was she was dead." He put the bandanna on the night stand and then put his hand on her leg. "Your turn." </p><p> </p><p>She looked at his hand, resting on her right thigh, but didn't ask him to move it. "I can't give you too many details but humankind was, will be, at war with an alien race. They were big, powerful and evil, from where we were standing. I enlisted. I have been a Time Force officer for years, also a Power Ranger, so I've been fighting big and powerful monsters for a long time. Time Force didn't let me take my morpher with me, I was just another soldier. I fought for over two years, unsure that we even had a chance of winning." </p><p> </p><p>"Everybody who goes to war thinks they have a chance of winning." </p><p> </p><p>"We did, at first. Then it was more a matter of resisting, holding them back so as many people as possible could escape Earth," she scooted closer to him and he wrapped his arm over her shoulders. "During one mission, we were sent to clear an area of the city, to make sure no civilians were trapped. We were driving there when we were attacked. The flipped our vehicle over, </p><p>picked the soldiers from my unit out of it one by one. We fired at them, of course. Two of us managed to get out of the vehicle but they spotted us. They threw the vehicle at us. I pushed the other soldier out of the way but didn't get out of the way myself. Not in time," her voice broke and she sniffed. He kissed her head and caressed her back, trying to comfort her in silence. "The vehicle landed on my right leg." </p><p> </p><p>Before he could stop himself, his other hand was again on her right thigh, touching it lightly with the tip of his fingers. </p><p> </p><p>"I lost it," she whispered. "I had never felt so much pain, RJ. I fainted almost immediately." She sniffed again, now crying freely. "I woke up and my leg was there. But I knew something was wrong. I knew I had lost my leg, I had felt the vehicle crush it completely. There was no way this," she pointed at her leg. "was my leg." </p><p> </p><p>"It's a prosthetic." </p><p> </p><p>"It's more than a prosthetic. They printed me a new one." </p><p> </p><p>He ran his fingers up and down her thigh again, a soft and loving touch. "There is no scar." </p><p> </p><p>"No, I don't even know where the leg I was born with ends and the leg they printed on begins."  </p><p>He kept caressing her leg and kissed her head again. "It's impossible to tell." </p><p>"Are you sure?" </p><p>"I can't tell." </p><p>She moved away from him and looked into his eyes, wondering if he was being honest. "You really can't tell?" </p><p> </p><p>"No. To me is just a beautiful leg," he offered a small smile, which she ignored. "What is it made of?" </p><p> </p><p>"I have no idea. Before I entered combat, my body was scanned thoroughly. Bone, muscle, skin, nerve endings, blood vessels, organs, DNA. Everything was scanned in great detail."  </p><p>"To create the prosthetics?" </p><p>"I guess," she whispered and snuggled on his side again. "I was told it took them a week to print the new leg, because the damage at the stump was very extensive. I was put in an induced coma and left lying there, for seven days, until the robots finished recreating my lost leg." She took a deep breath and slapped his hand away from her leg. "It's not my leg! It's not real! It's fake! It's not my leg and I can tell!" </p><p> </p><p>She broke down in tears and curled into a ball and he hugged her the best he could, caressing her back and kissing her hair. </p><p> </p><p>"Hey, it's alright," he cooed, rocking her softly. "It's alright." </p><p> </p><p>"Don't you see it?" She asked in between sobs. "My leg... it was made by robots. How can you like it if it was made by those robots you hate so much?" </p><p> </p><p>"Because it's a part of you," he told her, moving her arm away so he could extend her right leg. He bent down and trailed loving kisses on it, from her hip to her ankle, and back. "I like you and I like your leg." </p><p> </p><p>"It was made by robots." </p><p> </p><p>"A lot of things are made by robots, Jen." He kissed her forehead again. "Besides, I don't hate all robots. I only hate the ones who were created exclusively to destroy humankind." She shook her head, tears still flowing freely from her eyes. "How can I hate the robots who gave such a brave and strong soldier her leg back?" </p><p> </p><p>She looked at him as if she couldn't understand what he was saying. He gave her a tender and loving kiss on the lips. </p><p>“RJ, stop.” </p><p>“Stop what?” </p><p>“You’re falling in love with me. Don’t do that.” </p><p>“I am not—” </p><p>“Once this mission is over, I’ll be gone and I will never look back. All I can offer you is sex, for as long as we are here.” </p><p>“It’s better than nothing,” he said with a smirk. “Besides, I’m not in the mood to fall in love either.” </p><p>“Good. It’s just a fling, okay?” </p><p>“Sounds good to me.” </p><p>“Good.” </p><p>“now, about that leg,” he said, his face serious. “Is there a chance you can wrap it around my waist while we--?” </p><p>“You want my fake leg wrapped around your waist while we have sex?" </p><p>"No," he said and kissed her again. "I actually want both of them. Do you think I have a chance of getting that?" </p><p>"You know what? I think you do." They kissed again. </p><p>It wasn't long before RJ had both of Jen's legs wrapped around his waist. And they both felt very real to him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Power Malfunction</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Billy walked out of his bedroom, his mind racing. He had discovered a hole in his plan to defeat Venjix, and thinking about the solution had kept him awake for most of the night. He was thankful his newly restored youth helped him carry on with little sleep. </p><p>He got to the common area of the garage and saw one of the weirdest sights ever. </p><p>"What are you three doing?" He asked. <br/>"Meditating," RJ said with a smug smile. </p><p>"I like to think like this," Bridge explained. "Gravity helps ideas come to my brain faster." </p><p>Billy looked at Chip. "Do you have any other absurdity to add to this conversation?" </p><p>"How much wood would a woodchuck chuck--" </p><p>Billy raised a hand to make him stop. "Sorry I asked." </p><p> </p><p>He went to the kitchen to get some coffee, leaving Bridge, RJ, and Chip where they were: doing handstands against the lab door. </p><p>"You know, I'm no biologist, but I'm pretty sure that ideas are not affected by gravity,” He told them as he sat on the couch. </p><p>"Why do you have to ruin everything?" RJ asked. "It's harmless, and it helps him. Besides, it's a totally legit form of meditation." </p><p>"There's no such thing." </p><p>"No such thing as what?" </p><p>"As a legitimate form of meditation." </p><p> </p><p>That made RJ move to stand the right way up. "It’s not cool to invalidate other people's beliefs," he started, walking towards Billy. "And there is scientific evidence of meditation and meditative states affecting the brain function, to put it in your language." </p><p>"Are you younger today?" Bridge asked from the door. </p><p>"Me?" RJ asked. "I'd like to think so.” He added with a chuckle. </p><p>"Not you, him," Bridge corrected, looking at Billy. </p><p>"Considering time as a linear sequence and age is the progression of human life down said linear sequence, it's impossible for me to be younger today than I was yesterday, Bridge." </p><p>"That's not true!" Chip started, moving to stand upright too. "Once we were at Rootcore practicing our spells and Clare turned Xander into a baby." </p><p>"How exactly?" Billy asked. </p><p>"Well, she was trying to reverse the age of some flowers, you know, turn them back into buds, but she wasn't very good at aiming, and she hit Xander instead." </p><p>"Hit him with what?" </p><p>"The spell, of course." </p><p>"The spell?" Billy asked him in disbelief. He turned to RJ, who was smiling. "Seriously? Magic?!" </p><p> </p><p>“Oh, come on man, don't act like you've never seen magic, Rita was a witch, and Lord Zedd was a sorcerer! Even Zordon was a sorcerer!" </p><p>Billy let out a huff but had no valid rebuttal. </p><p>"You didn't answer my question," Bridge said, standing up straight as well. "Why do you look younger today?" </p><p>"I don't, Bridge." </p><p>"Yes, you do. At least ten years younger." </p><p>Billy looked at RJ. "Where's his handler?" </p><p>"Why are you in such a bad mood?" RJ asked. "You're being extra mean today." </p><p>"I didn't sleep very well." </p><p>"So, why do you look younger today?" Bridge insisted. </p><p>"Magic," Billy spat, drinking his cup of coffee. "Where are their handlers?" </p><p>"They went out for a run," RJ replied. </p><p> </p><p>In the same nearby park where Billy had drunk the water from the Eternal Falls, Jen and Lauren were jogging at a steady pace. </p><p>"I was thinking may we should take the security detail," Lauren said. </p><p>"You and me?" </p><p>"Yeah. I mean, the boys are busy at the lab and it wouldn't hurt to have a patrol. I know you have your surveillance system, but I think nothing beats a pair of real human eyes." </p><p>"you’re right; we should take care of that." </p><p>Lauren looked at Jen as if she wanted to ask something but didn't dare. </p><p>"What?" Jen asked. </p><p>"Bridge mentioned you were the leader of your team." </p><p>"It was more of a collaboration with Wes, our red ranger." </p><p>"But you lead your team." </p><p>"Yes. Didn't you? You're a red ranger." </p><p>"Well, yes and no," Lauren started. "I was more like an imposed boss. They followed me because I was the red one, not because they trusted me. When I came in, they were already loyal to my brother Jayden, and it was hard for them to accept me. I tried being nice, effective, strong... But nothing worked. They were Jayden's rangers. So much so that Antonio left the mansion to find him and bring him back." </p><p>“I've been on the other side of that. The ranger who got a new red ranger and refused to follow him out of loyalty to the one I considered my red ranger." </p><p>"What did he have? Why did you follow him?" </p><p>"I guess we were just used to Wes' style and Alex was just too different. I don't think we had anything against Alex, I certainly didn't, but Wes was more relaxed and trusting, Alex was more by-the-book and do-as-I-say.” She sighed. “Being a leader is hard, Lauren." </p><p>"What if I'm not cut out to be a leader? What if I'm just the red ranger who can't lead?" </p><p>"You are, and you can.” </p><p>"I wouldn't want to lead this team of rangers." </p><p>"Why not?" </p><p>"You're more experienced than me, all of you. And this team has more natural leaders, like you and RJ." </p><p>"That's true." </p><p>"You said it yourself; this is your mission; you are the leader." </p><p>"If you say it that way, I guess you're right," Jen said. "But one failure doesn't make you useless, Lauren. The resistance of that team to accept your leadership doesn't make you a bad leader. That was a show of loyalty, not bad leadership." </p><p>"How can you know?" </p><p>"When Alex came back and took over from Wes, he was informed, he had a plan, he knew what to do. His plan was streamlined, easy to follow, and highly efficient, but we refused to go along with it," she sighed. "And that made Alex more and more frustrated, and frustration made him meaner and more demanding, which made us more resistant. We didn't go along with Alex's plan not because it was a bad plan but because it wasn't Wes' plan." </p><p>"Do you think I can show authority over someone like Billy, who has been a Power Ranger for decades?" </p><p>"What I think doesn't matter, Lauren. It's what you think that matters." Jen put a hand on her shoulder. "I would follow you into battle, and I know RJ and Chip are humble enough to follow you. As for Bridge, just like me, he had a martial training, he will follow whoever is appointed as leader." </p><p>"What about Billy?" </p><p>"Billy is a humble man, too, Lauren. We would all follow you into battle." </p><p>"What if I give the wrong order? If I make the wrong call?" </p><p>"We will let you know because you are a humble leader and you will listen to us." Lauren took a deep breath, and Jen smiled at her. "I'm sure you're an excellent red ranger, Lauren, because you're an excellent person. When the time comes, you will lead us to victory." </p><p>"I won't let you down," Lauren said, looking straight at her. </p><p>"I know," Jen said with a smile. </p><p> </p><p>Back in the lab, RJ let out an exclamation of joy.  </p><p>“What?” Billy asked distractedly from the terminal he was studying. Bridge and Chip also looked up from the eternal list of things they were now reading together. </p><p>“Morphing into a Power Ranger.” RJ started and turned around with a gesture of grandeur, showing Billy his smartphone. “There’s an app for that.” </p><p>“You made a morpher out of your phone?” Billy asked, not taking the phone. </p><p>“I made YOU a morpher out of my phone, my friend.” </p><p>Billy grabbed the phone, and the screen lit up, showing an image of his wolf power coin. </p><p>“I had to use your animal spirit to make it work, sorry it’s not the triceratops you’re used to,” RJ explained. </p><p>“It’s okay,” Billy said, his eyes glued to the screen. He looked up at Bridge and Chip. “Should I try it?” </p><p>“YEAH!” Chip yelled from the other end of the lab, and he and Bridge moved closer. </p><p>“Just touch the coin,” RJ instructed. </p><p>Billy stood up, his eyes moving up from the phone to RJ’s face. “Well, I guess it’s morphing time.” </p><p> </p><p>He pressed the button and a flash of blue light surrounded him for a second and then disappeared, leaving him exactly as he was before. </p><p>“What happened?” Chip asked RJ. </p><p>“More like,” Bridge started. “What didn’t happen?” </p><p>“I—I don’t know, I made it using the same specifications as the other morphers I made. It should work.” </p><p>“Try yours,” Bridge asked him. </p><p>“With my animal spirit—” </p><p>“Try it,” Bridge insisted. </p><p>“It’s not a good idea, Bridge.” </p><p>“Please.” </p><p>RJ turned to the table and grabbed his morpher, strapping it around his wrist. “Jungle Beast! Spirit Unleashed!” </p><p> </p><p>A flash of purple light surrounded him for a second and then disappeared, leaving him unmorphed as well. </p><p>“Ok, this one isn’t broken, it’s just my animal spirit—” </p><p>“It’s not the morphers,” Bridge answered, looking at RJ and Billy. “I think it’s the Morphing Grid itself.” </p><p>“You think something’s wrong with the Morphing Grid?” Billy asked him. </p><p>“Yeah, I don’t know…” The others looked at Bridge with disapproving expressions. “Yet. But I think Chip and I figured out why Venjix took Doctor K.” </p><p>“I thought it was a personal revenge thing,” Billy said. “But come to think of it; an act of personal revenge is a rather human motivation for a computer virus.” </p><p>“Venjix is no ordinary computer virus-“ RJ started. </p><p>“He had a better reason to take Doctor K.” Bridge started. “Since we started this mission -and learned doctor K is missing- I’ve been wondering if she was the easiest target for kidnapping and Venjix just wanted a strong bargaining chip; or if he took her purposely.” </p><p>“Venjix attempted to infect the Morphing Grid during K’s team final battle,” Billy informed. </p><p>“He didn’t attempt to infect the Morphing Grid; he did it. And now I think he has done it again.” </p><p>“How?” RJ asked. </p><p>“K! That’s what Chip and I have been working on. There are at least two dozens of targets that were easier to get and had access to more secure protocols and system than K. But K is the only one with access to—” </p><p>“The Morphing Grid,” RJ let out with a breathy voice. “If he gets her to work with him…” </p><p>“He might have already found a way.” Bridge started pacing in front of them. “K’s Green Ranger, Ziggy Grover, was pretty much her boyfriend. And he’s also missing. He’s the only ranger from K’s team unaccounted for.” </p><p>“You think Venjix may be forcing K to help him by threatening Ziggy’s life?” Billy asked. </p><p>“Maybe it’s been more than threats and that’s how he got her to access the Morphing Grid for him.” </p><p>“If Venjix infected the Morphing Grid we’re in a lot more trouble than we thought,” RJ said. </p><p>“We can’t morph. Even if I recovered my belief in magic, even if you fixed Lauren’s morpher, we can’t access the Morphing Grid.” </p><p>“There has to be a way,” Billy rebutted. </p><p>“That’s not the bad news,” RJ started. “I can think of a way around that. The main problem is the Morphing Grid is the greatest source of energy in the universe.” He started gesticulating wildly. “If Venjix gets access to it, or even worse, learns to harness its power, he can revive every single robot that has run out of battery, all of his attack bots would repair themselves, the battle would be truly lost.” </p><p>“Let’s stop him before he learns to harness it, then,” Chip said. </p><p>“Call the girls,” RJ asked Bridge. Then he turned to Billy. “You and I need to go back home.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Wolf's den</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Billy left for his home, offering to pick Lauren and Jen up from the park on his way. RJ took Chip and Bridge with him to his loft. </p><p>“Will the others be fine?” Chip asked as they arrived at Jungle Karma Pizza. </p><p>“Billy is with Jen and Lauren,” RJ said as he got out of the jeep. “I’m honestly more worried about us.” </p><p>All three of them chuckled as RJ opened the door and let them in. He closed the door behind him; and they made their way to the loft. </p><p>RJ started looking around, wiggling his fingers in front of him, with a pout. “Where did I put it?” he asked the air. </p><p>Bridge was looking around at the space. “Pretty cool, uh?” Chip told him. </p><p>“I grew up in a bunker, so, yeah, pretty cool.” </p><p>“In a bunker?” RJ asked without looking at him, now checking a series of small boxes and plastic drawers on top of his worktable. </p><p>“Yeah.” </p><p>“Why?” Chip asked. </p><p>“Venjix, actually,” Bridge answered, making both Chip and RJ look at him. </p><p>“I thought you came from the future,” Chip said. </p><p>“I do,” Bridge said. “Just not the distant future like Jen. Little me is somewhere out there, growing up in a bunker.” </p><p>“Heavy,” RJ breathed, resuming his search. </p><p>“What are you looking for? Maybe we can help,” Chip offered the chef. </p><p>“A crystal, about the size of marble… actually, it looks pretty much like a marble,” RJ said. </p><p>“What’s a marble?” Bridge asked. </p><p>RJ and Chip looked at him again. “You’ve never seen a marble before?” RJ asked. </p><p>“I’ve seen marble, but not A marble.” </p><p>“It’s a toy,” Chip explained. “It’s a round glass bead, about this big,” he showed the approximated size of a marble with his fingers. </p><p>“That sounds dangerous, how do you play with that?” </p><p>“You throw it at other people’s marbles—” </p><p>“Err… round crystal bead, about this size,” RJ repeated, also showing the size with his fingers. “That’s what we’re looking for.” </p><p>Bridge and Chip started looking around and it wasn’t long before Bridge encountered RJ’s navigation tools. He looked at them in amazement but didn’t touch them. </p><p>“Where did you get these?” he asked. </p><p>RJ looked up and swallowed hard. “An old friend gave them to me a long time ago,” he answered. </p><p>“Are they originals?” </p><p>“I don’t know, but you know what they’re not? Round, glass and about this size,” he repeated. </p><p>“Sorry, I just love ancient equipment.” </p><p>“That’s hardly ancient, Bridge,” RJ said, rummaging through another box. </p><p>Chip opened a Chinese looking chest. Inside, there were a lot of small compartments. And in one of them… </p><p>“I found it!” He declared, picking up the crystal from the box. “I think.” </p><p>RJ turned to him. “That’s the one, where was it?” </p><p>“In this Chinese chest with all these other stuff.” </p><p>This time, Bridge did pick up one of the objects in the chest, a delicately carved buddha in green stone. </p><p>“Is this jade?” he asked. </p><p>RJ snatched the figurine from his hand and stuffed it back in the chest, closing it with a loud snap. “Nope,” he whispered, licking his lips. “Well, we found what we came here for, time to go.” </p><p>“Hang on,” Bridge said, opening the lid of the chest again. “Where did you get all of this?” </p><p>“The internet-dot-com,” RJ said, closing the lid again. “We have what we came here for. Let’s go.” </p><p>“Why are you so snappy about a bunch of trinkets?” Chip asked, opening the lid again. </p><p>“They are my trinkets and I don’t like to talk about them, let’s go.” </p><p>“Is this real gold?” Bridge asked, picking another figurine from the chest. </p><p>“No, put it back, let’s go.” </p><p>“Is this ivory?” Bridge continued, picking up another object. </p><p>“Ivory is illegal, let’s go.” RJ was licking his lips more often the more Chip and Bridge insisted in looking at the trinkets in the chest. “Guys! We don’t have much time, let’s go!” </p><p>Bridge looked at him but refused to move away from the chest. “Where did you get these things?” </p><p>“I told you—” </p><p>“Where did you really get them from?” Bridge asked, his hand instinctively moving to his handcuffs. </p><p>“Are you going to arrest me, officer?” RJ asked him. </p><p>“I will if you don’t tell me where you got these things,” Bridge said. “And maybe if you do tell me but that’s beside the point.” RJ took a deep breath, closing his eyes. He opened his eyes again to find Bridge reading his aura. “Why are you so stressed?” </p><p>“I don’t like to talk about my trinkets. And we have to go back to the lab and work on fixing the morphers.” </p><p>“Your aura is turning black again, are you mad?” </p><p>“More than a little annoyed, yes.” </p><p>“Where did you get these?” Bridge insisted, pointing at the trinkets in the chest. </p><p>“I can’t tell you that.” </p><p>“Try me.” </p><p>“I can’t tell you.” </p><p>“We’re not going anywhere,” Bridge told him. </p><p>RJ weighted his options and decided his best bet was to answer the officer.  “I got them from the Pai Zhua, the academy where I studied Kung Fu.” </p><p>Bridge looked at him, squinting. RJ held his gaze with a neutral expression. </p><p>It seemed Bridge was going to insist on RJ telling him, but then his communicator beep went off. </p><p> </p><p>While RJ, Bridge and Chip searched for the marble in RJ’s loft, Billy, Jen and Lauren were in Billy’s place. </p><p>“So, what are we looking for?” Jen asked. </p><p>“A set of cables that only I will recognize,” Billy said, looking in some boxes. “But you can help me find the hard drive labelled ‘Venjix’,” he told them. </p><p>“I’m gonna keep an eye outside, just in case,” Lauren offered and left Billy’s workshop. </p><p>“Color of this drive?” Jen asked, opening a container box. </p><p>“Blue,” Billy said. Then he looked at her with a smirk. “Like the rest of them.” </p><p>Jen looked inside the box and saw at least two dozen external drives, all blue. “Okay.” </p><p>“They’re labelled,” Billy told her as a form of apology. </p><p>“I’ll look for it. You find those cables.” </p><p>Billy opened another box and pulled out a set of cables, all tangled. “Here we are!” he said triumphantly. </p><p>“Want to help me out here?” Jen asked reading the labels of the units. </p><p>In that moment, Lauren came running to the door. “We got to go! Now!” She yelled. </p><p>“We haven’t found the drive yet!” Billy told her. </p><p>“Well, Grinders found us, at least two dozen, let’s go!” </p><p>“Take the whole box! Come on!” Jen instructed and pressed a silver bead from her gauntlet. A pair of metallic sticks, about the size of two AA batteries materialised in her hand. “Let’s see what you’re made of, Commander,” she whispered and started twirling the sticks in her hands, feeling and seeing them grow into the size of police batons. </p><p>“You’re going to have to tell me how those work,” Billy told her. </p><p>“No, I’m not.” </p><p>They left the house and found Billy’s yard teeming with Grinders. </p><p>“Two dozen?” Billy asked Lauren. </p><p>“There were only two dozen when I went in!” she defended. </p><p>“We can’t fight our way out on our own,” Jen said. She brought her morpher to her face. “Bridge!” </p><p>“Yes?” </p><p>“We need help! We’re in Billy’s house and we’re surrounded by Grinders!” She told him, while leading Billy and Lauren back inside and closing the door behind them. </p><p>“We’re on our way!” Bridge let her know and closed the communication. </p><p>“I don’t have my Samurizer so I can’t summon my sword!” </p><p>“Will a sabre do?” </p><p>“Yes.” </p><p>“Okay,” Jen said. She put both police batons in her armpit and pressed another bead in her gauntlet. “Chrono sabres, chrono sabres…” she kept moving the hologram of her equipment until she found her ranger weapons. “Here!” she said, materializing the sabres in front of her. </p><p>“What are these things made of?” Lauren asked, picking up one of Jen’s chrono sabres and weighting it in her hand. </p><p>“Diamond,” Jen said, offering the other sabre to Billy, who took it without much conviction. “Just in case,” Jen told him. </p><p>The grinders were moving in towards the door and Jen and Lauren surrounded Billy. They heard the front door being torn off its hinges and landing loudly on the floor. </p><p>“They’re in!” Lauren yelled, sounded more scared than she wanted to. </p><p>“I’ve got it!” Jen announced, leaving them to slow down the Grinders. </p><p>Billy put a hand on Lauren’s shoulders, since she had begun to tremble. “Lauren,” he called her. She looked over her shoulders at his face. “It’s okay, we’ve got this.” </p><p>She nodded and steeled her resolve. Looking out the glass door of Billy’s backyard, where the Grinders were banging. </p><p>“How strong is that door?” She asked him. </p><p>“Stronger than the front door.” </p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, Jen was fighting hard to keep the Grinders away from Billy and Lauren. The blunt force of her batons caused damage to the robots, but she thought it would be easier if the batons had a sharp point. </p><p>And just before her eyes, both her batons changed to resemble more spikes than police batons. </p><p>“Bless you, commander, you thought of everything.” </p><p>She pierced through the eye of one robot and saw it crash to the ground. She fought hard but it wasn’t long until she found herself overwhelmed. </p><p>“Lauren!” she called. “Help!” </p><p>Lauren looked at Billy, her face pale. </p><p>“You’ve got this, Lauren,” She didn’t move. “Lauren! You friend needs help! And you’ve got this!” </p><p>Lauren looked at Billy and nodded. “Will you be okay?” </p><p>“Better than Jen.” </p><p>She left his side and found Jen surrounded by Grinders, barely able to move. </p><p>“Leave her alone, trash cans!” she yelled and started slicing through them with Jen’s sabre. Soon they were both overwhelmed. And to make matters worse, Billy yelled: “They’re getting through the back door too!” </p><p>“Let’s hope the others get here before we’re dead!” Lauren told Jen. </p><p>“They will! Keep fighting! Both of you!” </p><p>A Grinder punched her in the abdomen, knocking the air out of her. She fell to her knees, unable to breathe, let alone defend herself. The Grinder raised its arm to hit her on the head when there was a of purple energy and it was dragged back, along with several of its companions. </p><p>After the Grinders fell to the ground, RJ ran to her. “Jen! Are you alright?” </p><p>“What the hell?” </p><p>“Animal spirit, long story, can you stand?” </p><p>“Yes.” </p><p>He helped her to her feet and she saw Bridge and Chip firing at the Grinders from the door. </p><p>She grabbed RJ’s arm. “Billy’s alone, they’re coming in through the back too!” </p><p>“I’m on it!” RJ walked past Lauren, helping her with a pair of Grinders. “Billy needs help! Let’s go!” Lauren followed him and they left Jen, Bridge and Chip fighting the Grinders coming in through the front to help Billy at the back of the house. </p><p>They found Billy on his back, fighting a Grinder off as it tried to choke him. </p><p>“Spirit of the wolf!” RJ yelled and there was a purple flash. Billy took a deep breath and RJ ran to him. </p><p>“Your spirit,” Billy said hoarsely. </p><p>“Later, get up!” RJ dismissed. </p><p>Billy got up and leaped for the box of drives. </p><p>“I have to take these with me!” He told RJ. </p><p>“All of them?” </p><p>“I haven’t found the one I need.” </p><p>RJ cleared a path for Billy to hide behind a knocked over table. “Find the one drive you need, you can’t take them all!” </p><p>He returned to help Lauren, not yet overcome by the same rage that had taken over him the last time they had encountered Grinders. With his clear head it was easier for him to see that the battle was soon going to be lost if they didn’t come up with a plan. </p><p>“Lauren!” He called. “Get behind the table with Billy!” </p><p>She nodded, shook off two Grinders and jumped behind the table. </p><p>Billy was rapidly going through the drives. “What are we looking for?” </p><p>“It’s labelled ‘Venjix’.” </p><p>She helped him look. “I’ve got it!” she yelled. RJ jumped over the table to hide with them. </p><p>“Good work, Lauren.” </p><p>RJ looked at the herd of Grinders approaching them, weapons ready. </p><p>“Do you have a plan?” Billy asked him. </p><p>“Yes, but it kinda depends on you.” </p><p>“Is it the kind of plan I’m not going to like?” </p><p>“You don’t like any of my plans.” </p><p>Lauren looked at both of them in turn. “Whatever it is, do it fast.” </p><p>“Let it out,” RJ told Billy. </p><p>“RJ, it is highly dangero-“ </p><p>“Billy! Let it out!” RJ yelled, getting up. “Lauren, get the others! This is the way out!” he instructed and yanked the ring off his neck, letting it drop. </p><p>Billy focused and managed to let out his animal spirit, a blue wolf, and it launched at the Grinders, knocking them down. </p><p>RJ jumped after Billy’s spirit, his face contorted in rage again, his hands moving fast to destroy as many Grinders as possible, as fast as possible. </p><p>Lauren returned, Bridge, Chip and Jen at her heel. Jen had traded her batons for her gun and helped Billy get up. She and Bridge did their best to help RJ open a corridor through the Grinders without shooting the fast-moving kung fu master. </p><p>The others ran but Jen hung back, looking for RJ’s necklace. She found it and managed to get close to RJ. He tried to hit her but she dodged his blow, kicking him behind the knees and wrapping the necklace around his neck hard, almost strangling him. </p><p>RJ fell on all fours. </p><p>“You’re alright,” she told him. “You’re back, you’re alright.” </p><p>He took a couple of deep breaths while Bridge shot a Grinder that was going for them. “Hurry up!” he yelled. </p><p>“Go!” RJ told her. Jen didn’t seem to want to leave her behind. “I’ll be fine, I’m right behind you.” </p><p>She ran for the door before the hole in the Grinders closed and RJ got up and made a run for it after her. But a Grinder raised its weapon while they all ran in the opposite direction. </p><p>And it fired. </p><p>Chip and Jen turned to look at RJ just in time to see the Grinder’s shot hit him in the back. RJ fell on all fours with cry of pain. </p><p>“RJ!” Jen yelled, running back for him. </p><p>RJ’s ears were ringing, and his breath was caught on his chest. He opened his eyes widely, obviously in pain. Suddenly, his wolf, bright violet and huge, leaped out from his back and finished the Grinders behind him. </p><p>“RJ!” He fell to his face. “No! No! No!” Jen got to him and turned him over, finding his face pale and his eyes were closed. “NO!” She yelled again as RJ’s spirit dissolved into the air. </p><p>“Jen, we have to go!” Billy called. </p><p>“Not without him!” She yelled. </p><p>“Jen! He’s gone, let’s go!” </p><p>“No!” Lauren called, running back to RJ too. “We’re not leaving him behind!” </p><p>“He’s—” Billy started, but in that moment, RJ coughed in Jen’s arms and opened his eyes. </p><p>He cursed. “That hurts!” </p><p>“You’re alive!” Jen yelled, hugging him. </p><p>“I told you I’d be fine.” </p><p>“Grinders! Twelve o’clock!” Bridge called, opening fire. </p><p>Chip and Billy ran to them and helped RJ up. “Come on!” Billy said, pretty much dragging RJ to his car. </p><p>“L!” Chip called, running back to the women after RJ was in the car with Billy and Bridge. “Let’s take the jeep!” he yelled, throwing the keys at her. </p><p>“Let’s go!” Jen told them. </p><p>Both vehicles sped off as fast as possible away from Billy’s home. </p><p>“We can’t leave all those Grinders out there!” Lauren said. </p><p>“We need to regroup,” Jen told them. “We’ll come back for them.” </p><p>“I have something else in my mind,” Chip said with a serious face the others had never seen before from the driver’s seat. “How did RJ survive that shot?”</p>
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<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Story of my life</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jen and Billy supported RJ as he walked to the couch. They had managed to escape the Grinders and make their way back to the garage. </p><p>RJ grimaced as they helped him down to the couch, obviously in pain. </p><p>“Let me check your vitals,” Jen said, pressing a button on her gauntlet. </p><p>“There’s no need,” RJ said through gritted teeth. </p><p>“You received a direct shot, RJ,” she reminded him. “Let me check your status.” She pointed a device at him and he turned his face away from it. </p><p>“I’ll be fine,” he insisted. </p><p>She looked at the device. “Your heart frequency is elevated,” she said. </p><p>“Because it hurts, I’ll be fine.” </p><p>“Then let me get you something for the pain,” she offered. </p><p>“That sounds great.” </p><p>While Jen looked for her first aid kit, Chip stepped up to RJ, his face serious. </p><p>“How?” he asked. </p><p>“How what?” RJ asked. </p><p>“How did you survive?” </p><p>“Chip, I--” RJ let out a pained hiss and Jen moved to apply some futuristic medicine on him. To everyone’s surprise, Chip grabbed her wrist and stopped her. She tried to free her wrist but he held it tighter. </p><p>“No,” he said. RJ looked at him, his face showing how confused he was. “I want you to tell me how you survived.” </p><p>“Chip...” Jen said, trying to release her hand from the vice like grip of the wizard again. </p><p>“No! I want to know why the shot that killed Vida didn’t kill you!” Chip pretty much yelled at RJ’s face. </p><p>RJ closed his eyes and took a breath as deep as the searing pain on his back would let him. He grimaced. A part of him had been waiting for that moment for a very long time, but now he felt like running away and never looking back. </p><p>He opened his eyes and looked straight at Chip’s furious blue eyes. “Because it couldn’t have.” </p><p>“What?” </p><p>“It couldn’t have killed me, Chip.” </p><p>“Why not?” </p><p>“Because I can’t die,” RJ said bluntly. </p><p>“What?!” </p><p>“Let me get my medication and I’ll explain, but please, Chip, I’m immortal but I’m still in a lot of pain.” </p><p>“You’re immortal?” Chip asked, completely dumbfounded. </p><p>“Chip,” Jen insisted, tugging her wrist free from his grasp, now slacked. She helped RJ sit up and pressed a little ball that was shining with a bright blue light against his back, around the spot where he had been shot, where it was absorbed into his body. </p><p>He hissed but his shoulders relaxed after a few seconds, his pain obviously diminished. “Thanks,” he told Jen. She sat next to him and took his hand to keep her scanner checking his vitals. He appreciated the contact, so he allowed it. </p><p>This may be the last time she would want to touch him, for all he knew. </p><p>He stayed quiet for a minute, while the others sat around him. Chip sat right in front of him, on the floor, with his legs crossed, looking every bit like a child during story time. </p><p>RJ wondered if he should be completely honest or if he could keep the bad parts to himself. He looked at Jen and she smiled, encouraging him to talk. He decided to tell the whole story. Ride or die. </p><p>“My name is not Robert James,” he started. “It’s Robert Albertusen.” </p><p>“Albertusen?” Billy repeated. </p><p>“It’s a patronymic. I’m Dutch.” </p><p>“Dutch?”  </p><p>“Yes. I am a Dutch sailor,” he told them. They remained silent, waiting for him to continue. </p><p>“The compass and the sextant,” Billy started, remembering seeing the sailing equipment in RJ’s old place when he trained under the Wolf Master. “You didn’t get those on the internet, did you?” </p><p>“No. I got them from the navigator of my ship. I wasn’t a very good sea man, but I knew my numbers and I knew my stars. The only reason I joined the crew was because my father wanted me to.” He stopped long enough to look at Jen and Billy and then he looked down to the ground, ashamed of what he was about to admit to. “We sailed on an explorer ship, that sailed to Asia.” </p><p>“No way!” Chip repeated, his pale cheeks going red with sudden excitement. He opened his big blue eyes and stared at RJ with his mouth agape. </p><p>“An explorer ship?” Lauren asked, confused. Jen nodded in agreement with Lauren, not really following either. </p><p>“300 years ago the world was still very big,” RJ started. “And this kind of travel was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. One of the reasons I joined was to get my mother silk for dresses. She had always wanted a silk dress but we couldn’t afford silk in Holland and so I thought I’d bring her some from China. So, I joined the crew of Dad’s ship for two reasons: to shut him up about me wasting away my time studying and to make my mother’s wish come true and get her silk for a dress.” </p><p>“Waste your time studying?” Billy asked. </p><p>“I now it’s incomprehensible now, Billy, but back then the world was very different. You were supposed to start working at a very young age. Studying was for the rich.” </p><p>“So, you joined this crew,” Jen started. “How did that make you immortal?” </p><p>“I had been sailing for little over a year, we were leaving the Hong Kong docks after a long stay on the island.” RJ was approaching the part of the story he was most scared of sharing. It was still a painful memory, 325 years later. </p><p>Bridge raised his hand. “From what I remember from school, that was quite a hot spot for sla--” </p><p>“No,” RJ said. “I mean, yes, we weren’t a part of that. Ours was a scientific ship.” </p><p>“Sorry, not into what?” Lauren asked, looking completely lost. </p><p>“The slave trade,” Billy cleared for her. </p><p>RJ nodded, licking his lips. “I swear we didn’t take part in it. Ours was a peaceful ship full of men who wanted to see the world and learn.” RJ’s eyes welled up and he took a deep breath, his lips pursed. “That only made what happened worse, in a way.” </p><p>Much to RJ’s surprise, Jen put a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it softly. “What happened?” </p><p>“If we had been bad men, then maybe I could have said God had smitten us because we deserved it, but nobody in that ship had ill intentions. It was just a pointless tragedy.” </p><p>“What happened?” she asked. </p><p>He licked his lips and swallowed hard, fighting back the tears. “When we were close to continental China, a powder keg exploded. It started a fire that made more powder explode. The ship caught fire. I knew that if I wanted a chance to make it to shore on the life raft, I needed my tools. I got on a raft with my dad, two other sailors, Petyr and Johann, and we watched the ship go up in flames and sink. I wanted to go back, to save those poor men who never had a chance to make it out of the boat they had boarded with nothing but thirst for knowledge. My father held me back and told me they were gone.” He took another deep breath, his eyes now focused on a point in the horizon, his mind far away from the garage. “And they were.” </p><p>RJ stopped talking and swallowed hard; and the others decided to give him some space. After a minute of silence, Chip whispered: “How did you become immortal then?” </p><p>RJ blinked and looked at him, as if he had forgotten he was there. “Sorry,” he said. He licked his lips. “We made it to shore, thanks to me, but once on the land we didn’t know where to go. Johann’s eyes were wounded terribly, and we ended up getting lost in the forest.” He pursed his lips again, his expression changing from pained to angry. “We eventually gave in to the hunger and thirst and I was happy to welcome death, much more likable at the moment. I knew my soul was going to end up in Hell for escaping that ship, but no torment the Devil could come up with looked worse to me than life.” </p><p>Jen rubbed his shoulder again and Billy moved to sit next to him as well. Jen continued to support him: “Why would you go to hell for escaping a ship?” </p><p>RJ closed his eyes and shook his head. “Because science not a matter of God, Jen. Right now, we can sit here and discuss science openly, hell, I’ve adopted science in my life. But back then, science was frowned upon. It wasn’t a Godly thing to do.” He took another deep breath and he dried the tear that was rolling down his cheek with the back of his hand. “I remember being ready to die at last but then waking up on a cot. I opened my eyes, thirsty, hungry and in pain, both mentally and physically, but I was clean and inside a building. The Pai Zhua, the Order of the Claw, had found us in the forest and had taken us in. I had water next to me and I remember drinking it, thinking it was the best drink I had ever had.” He smirked a little at the memory. “And back then the common drink wasn’t water, it was beer.” </p><p>“Because of the cholera,” Billy told Jen and Lauren, whose expression had turned confused again. </p><p>“What’s cholera?” Lauren asked. </p><p>“It’s a terrible disease,” RJ explain. “Deadly if untreated and back then making someone bleed was considered legitimate medicine.” </p><p>“Really?” </p><p>“Let’s not get distracted,” Jen said, moving her hand to RJ and tangling her fingers with his. He looked down at their joined hands and smiled a little. </p><p>“How did you become immortal?” Chip insisted. </p><p>RJ chuckled at his eagerness. “Well, the Order saved us and the only way we had to thank them was by becoming part of the Order and swearing secrecy. At first, I refused. I refused food and drink and refused to join the Order. I had sinned, God had punished me, and I wanted to be a good man. I wanted to die.” </p><p>“You still do,” Bridge whispered, the palm of his hand turned in RJ’s direction. </p><p>RJ nodded. </p><p>“Don’t say that,” Jen whispered. </p><p>He looked at her with sad eyes. “After 325 years, I’m tired, Jen.” </p><p>She tightened her lips and shook her head, running her fingers through his hair. </p><p>“Anyway, eventually my father’s pleas got to me. I started eating and drinking and started training to become part of the Order. Back then, the East and the West might as well have been different planets and we were good Christians, like everybody else in our world. Taking in the teachings of the Order was hard, because we had to let go of everything we had believed all our lives. But we eventually made progress.” He pursed his lips again, his face getting that hard, angry expression again. “We weren’t told what becoming a Master for the Order meant. I thought I’d be given a tattoo and some students.” He rolled up his sleeve to show them his Master Stripes. “But that wasn’t all. The final punishment was still to come.” </p><p>“Punishment? What punishment?” Lauren asked. </p><p>“Life,” RJ said, shaking his head slightly. “Eternal life.” </p><p>“Eternal?” Chip asked. “Even vampires have things they are weak against, things that are deadly to them.” </p><p>RJ let out another chuckle, truly amused by Chip’s attitude. “Well, we do too. A Pai Zhua Master can only be destroyed by Dai Shi, our sworn enemy, or another Master hell bent on his destruction.” </p><p>“Well, then you still have hope, right?” Chip asked. His comment was met by harsh looks from the other four, especially Jen and Billy. “He was the one who said he wanted to die!” </p><p>“Chip! That doesn’t mean you should encourage him!” Jen chided. </p><p>RJ let out a snort of laughter. “There is no hope of escaping this imprisonment,” he said.  </p><p>“What do you mean?” Jen asked. </p><p>“Well, I told you Dai Shi was the reason I became a Power Ranger. By the end of the 90’s I had a good life. I had been through a lot of devastating loses but I had gotten used to changing with the times by then. Every so often I would uproot and start again somewhere else, though the beginning of the digital age kept making that more and more difficult.” </p><p>“You must have lost so many people,” Lauren said. </p><p>“I married several times and started several families. Lost wives and children to disease and weather, but most of all, to my immortality. I wasn’t aging along with my wives and I always had to leave before my children were old enough to look more like my siblings than my children.” </p><p>“Why would you keep doing that?” Billy asked, sounding very disapproving.  </p><p>“Because getting married and producing children in the service of Our Lord was the right thing to do,” RJ said with a voice tone that left clear he thought that was obvious. “Sure, in the 20th century all of those beliefs were left behind, but the 200 years before that, they were very valid,“ he looked at Billy’s face and couldn’t help but chuckle. “I know, I don’t look the good Christian part anymore, it’s been one hundred years, ten of which were the sixties and ten of which were the seventies,” He said, showing Billy the palms of his hands. “Each time, I returned to the Pai Zhua, threw a cup of scalding tea at Master Mao’s face, begged him to destroy me, he said no, I went on a solitary self-confinement, then trained like crazy for a couple of months and Mao always said the same: accept what you have become and let go of what you were. Eventually, it got through my thick skull, or at least part of it. I decided to never get close to anyone and never let anyone get close to me. I became a closed book of carefully chosen words and direct lies.” He shook his head again. “So many lies.” </p><p>“That explains a lot, actually,” Jen said and he nodded. “But eventually you let someone in,” she said, remembering the story he had shared with her about Fran. </p><p>“In 2008, Master Mao sent the Chosen Protectors my way. I turned them into the Power Rangers.” </p><p>“How did you know how to do that?” Billy asked. “It requires a great deal of knowledge and skills.” </p><p>RJ shrugged. “When you have eternal life, you have an eternity to study. I’ve studied several types of engineering, physics, quantum physics, done particle experiments, and a lot more. I studied business, cooking... anything to keep myself distracted from the loneliness.” </p><p>“But these Chosen Protectors got to you,” Lauren said. </p><p>He nodded. “Yeah. They moved in with me and it’s hard to live with someone for so long, sharing such a big secret and such a big responsibility and not get attached. I couldn’t tell them how old I really am, students are not supposed to know what becoming a Master entails. So, I trained them to fall in the same trap I had fallen into all those years back.” </p><p>“And you fought this Dai Shi guy,” Chip said. RJ nodded. </p><p>“Da Shi, The Great Death,” Lauren translated. </p><p>RJ nodded, giving her a small smile. “Very good.” She smiled back. “The Great Death,” he repeated. “My students became Masters themselves and that lead to the final defeat of Dai Shi. He was destroyed and with him, my only chance of escaping life.” He looked at a point on the horizon again, his mind leaving the garage once more. “I surrendered to Dai Shi once. I said it was to spare my student’s lives but deep down, I guess a part of me hoped he would destroy me. I even refused to fight him at first, but my survival instinct kicked in and I ended up defending myself. Dai Shi defeated me, tainted my animal spirit, but he didn’t destroy me.” </p><p>“Good,” Jen told him forcefully. </p><p>“If you say so.” </p><p>“But one of the other Masters could still kill you,” Chip insisted. RJ smiled at him, since he seemed to be the only one who understood his desire for death. </p><p>“Technically, yes,” he started. “But there’s only 7 of us now: My father, now Master Finn; Johann, now Master Swoop; Petyr, now Master Phant, my three former students and me. So, no, none of them is going to kill me, no matter how much I beg.” </p><p>“So, you have accepted your fate?” Lauren asked. </p><p>RJ shrugged again. “There is no point in fighting it anymore. I will live to see the Earth itself die.” </p><p>“Then you have plenty of time to atone for whatever you think happened over 300 years ago, RJ,” Jen told him. “I’m almost certain you already have.” </p><p>“How so?” </p><p>“You told me, about the Venjix prisoner camps and factories. Looking for your friend. Going back to those you love. Fighting for those who couldn’t fight for themselves.” </p><p>“If you put it like that,” he whispered. </p><p>“Oh, Wow,” Billy said, his face lighting up. </p><p>“What?” RJ asked him. </p><p>“The Industrial Revolution! The Enlightment! You were there!” Billy said. </p><p>“England,” RJ told him in a thick English accent he faked with ease. “Some of the best years of my very long life.” </p><p>“Hang on,” Chip said suddenly, raising his hands. “How come you lost your friends to Venjix? Aren’t they immortal too?” </p><p>“Yes, but I have no way of knowing where they are, Chip. I left my loft in Ocean Bluff in the middle of the night and never saw them again.” </p><p>“Still, you can look for them, try to find them,” Jen told him. </p><p>“I guess, yes. Maybe they’re trying to find me. I’d like to think they are.” </p><p>“Then not all hope is lost,” she said with a smile. </p><p>He smiled back. “True.” </p><p>“So,” Chip started. “You are an immortal Kung Fu master with a wolf animal spirit, right?” </p><p>“If that’s all you got out of that story, then yes,” RJ said. “I like to think of myself as a Dutch sailor who supported a Godless expedition and got punished for it, but that’s a way of saying it too.” </p><p>“Dude! You are an immortal Kung Fu fighting werewolf!” Chip said enthusiastically. “Our boss is an immortal Kung Fu fighting werewolf!” He told Lauren excitedly. “This is the best day I’ve had in years!” </p><p>In that moment, RJ felt a warmth in his heart he hadn’t felt since he had lost Fran and he started laughing honestly, until he was crying. His laughter was contagious and the other five started laughing with him. </p><p>After a couple of minutes, the laughter subsided. </p><p>“Well, I have another question,” Billy started. “Your animal spirit was alright back in the house, until it wasn’t.” </p><p>“I honestly can’t explain it,” RJ told him. “It’s like… it knew my friends were in danger and decided to follow my lead to save you.” </p><p>“You lost control when you took your necklace off,” Lauren commented. </p><p>“Did you guys really pay this much attention to me in the middle of a fight for your lives?!” RJ asked, half annoyed, half amused. </p><p>“Yes.” </p><p>“Well, yes. The necklace is like a leash. It keeps the spirit in the spirit world.” </p><p>“But if you were wearing it, how did it come to save you after you were shot?” Chip asked. </p><p>“I don’t know.” </p><p>“He’s right, it shouldn’t have been able to come to you while you’re wearing the ring,” Jen told him. </p><p>“I know.” </p><p>“Then, how did it—” </p><p>“I don’t know.” </p><p>“How did you recover control over it? Even if temporary,” Billy asked again. </p><p>“I honestly don’t know!” RJ told them. “I just told you I’m immortal, I’m not about to start lying now!” </p><p>“Well, come on, guys,” Billy said, showing the others the cables and the drive. “We have to get those morphers working, there’s a small army of Grinders roaming the streets looking for us.” </p><p>Everybody but Jen got up and followed him to the lab. </p><p>Jen remained sitting with RJ. </p><p>He looked at her and she smiled. “My name is Jennifer Anne Scotts, I live in Millennium city and I became a Power Ranger in the year 3000. You can find me at any point after that.” </p><p>“Why are you telling me this?” </p><p>“Write it down where it will never erase,” she told him. </p><p>He raised his head, understanding what she was saying. “You’re falling in love with me, Jen. I can’t have that,” he told her through a smile. </p><p>“We can have it now.” </p><p>“We can have it in a thousand years from now.” </p><p>“Then don’t get hung up on me all that time, just find me when the time is right.” </p><p>He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. “Jennifer Scotts, sergeant in the Time Force, lives Millennium City, any time after the year 3000,” he recited. </p><p>“You have perfect memory too? Aside from eternal life?” </p><p>“No, I have to remember it until I can write it down,” he said. </p><p>This time, she leaned in to kiss him deeply. “I’ll see you in a thousand years,” she whispered and got up. </p><p>“How about tonight?” He asked. </p><p>“Tonight works too,” she said with a wink. </p><p>He watched her walk to the lab but didn’t get up. He sat back and thought about what had happened. </p><p>He had never told his story completely and he thought they would cast him out. But instead, they wrapped closer around him and gave him a reason to appreciate what he had come to think of as an eternal punishment. </p><p>Okay, maybe they hadn’t all been that understanding, Billy and Bridge hadn’t said much one way or the other and Chip seemed to be looking for a way to kill him. Only the women had been supportive and he was sure that came from ignorance about The Company. </p><p>But perhaps they were right and his eternal punishment was in fact a gift. Someone in his position could do a lot of good for a lot of people. He already had and he found himself looking at the future in a brighter light. </p><p>He was alive. </p><p>And he was happy to be.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Piggybacking</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Still reeling from after RJ’s story, the team went back to the lab.  They knew they didn’t have much time to waste mulling over it, there was a small army of Grinders loose on the city and looking for them. They were at least looking for Billy, if not for the others. </p><p>RJ walked to his worktable and Billy followed him. He had told Billy what he needed before they left and Billy had gotten it for him, but the blue rangers wasn’t completely up to speed with RJ’s plan. </p><p>“What exactly is it that you’re planning?” He asked RJ, handing him the cables he had brought from his home. </p><p>“I’m gonna use Bridge and Jen’s moprhers to guide the connection of the others.” </p><p>“Are you sure that’s going to work?” Billy asked. </p><p>“I have no way of being sure,” RJ answered, setting the cables on the table. Billy scowled at him and RJ shrugged. “I hope it works, but I have no way of being sure it will work. I’ve never done it before.” He turned to Jen and Bridge. “Can you guys try to morph for me?” </p><p>The officers looked at each other and Bridge took his morpher out. </p><p>“Time for Time Force!” </p><p>“S-P-D! Emergency!” </p><p>Both stood morphed in front of the others and everybody waited for a few seconds with bathed breath. But Jen and Bridge didn’t fall victim to the same problem Billy and RJ had had. </p><p>“Now, I have no way of knowing for sure that the malfunction of my morpher didn’t come from my animal spirit instead of the morphing grid but I think I can work with this.” He pointed at Jen and Bridge. “You guys can—” He made a gesture with his hand in their general direction and they demorphed. </p><p>“What do you think is wrong with the grid?” Jen asked. “I’m not looking for a ‘maybe Venjix infected it’ kind of answer but for a more specific answer.” </p><p>“We don’t have specific answers yet,” RJ told her. Billy nodded in agreement. </p><p>“Well, get to work on that. Our priority for now is getting working morphers for the whole team,” Jen ordered. </p><p>“Can I have your morphers?” RJ asked. Jen and Bridge handed them to him and he put them on the worktable. </p><p>“What’s the plan?” Bridge asked him. </p><p>“Well, instead of creating new routes into the grid for the new morphers, I’m gonna use your morphers as guides through a safe route for the rest of us.” </p><p>“That may work for my new morpher and for Lauren’s since it’s connection to the grid was severed, but I don’t see it working for you and Chip,” Billy said. </p><p>“My morpher was severed from the grid a while back too.” </p><p>“What?! How?” </p><p>RJ licked his lips again. “I cut it off. When I lost control of the wolf, I unplugged my morpher from the grid, just in case.” </p><p>“You just used it earlier today.” </p><p>“I plugged it back in when Jen asked me to fix it.” </p><p>“We’re talking about very advanced technology here, RJ. It’s not like plugging and unplugging a toaster.” </p><p>“It is to me,” RJ answered with a shrug. Billy opened his mouth and he interrupted him: “300 years to study, remember?” </p><p>“Yeah, sorry, I’m still not used to it.” </p><p>“Lauren and I thought we could do a security patrol just in case,” Jen said to break the silence. “I think we better go do that.” She used her head to point in the general direction of the door while looking at Lauren. </p><p>“Can I come too?” Chip asked. </p><p>“Sure,” Lauren told him and the three of them left the room. </p><p>RJ looked at Billy and pointed at the work table. “Can you help me here? We’ll finish faster together.” </p><p>“I have to check my Venjix hard drive and keep working on the antivirus,” Billy said so softly it was almost a whisper. </p><p>“I see,” RJ said and pursed his lips. </p><p>Billy took two steps towards the computer he had been working on and was about to sit down when he heard Bridge say: “It’s not fair.” </p><p>“What’s not fair?” RJ asked from the worktable. </p><p>“I mean, you weren’t part of the slave trade, what happened to your crew was not your fault.” </p><p>“Duly noted,” RJ commented, his eyes still fixed on Bridge’s morpher. </p><p>“And it’s not like you enjoyed it. You’ve felt pretty terrible about the whole thing for centuries.” </p><p>“It’s alright, Bridge. I can’t say I wasn’t expecting a reaction similar to this. My past mistakes are many and some of them are truly terrible, it’s been 300 years of wars and broken families. They’re uncomfortable, I get it.” </p><p>Bridge pushed against the inside of his cheek with his tongue and raised his right index finger. “I have a question. Another question.” </p><p>Not looking up from his moprher, RJ said: “Shoot.” </p><p>“The stuff in the Chinese chest. Where did they really come from?” </p><p>This made RJ stand up straight, swallow hard and snap on his safety goggles. “It doesn’t matter.” </p><p>“Come on, how bad can it be?” </p><p>RJ chuckled. “If you have to know,” he started. “They’re objects from the Forbidden City.” </p><p>“What?” Both Bridge and Billy asked at once. </p><p>“Did you take place in the looting of the Forbidden City?” Billy asked. </p><p>“No!” RJ said with a grimace. “Well, I guess you could say I participated in it…” He looked at Billy and Bridge, who were staring at him with wide eyes and pursed lips. “I didn’t loot the palaces,” he explained. “I helped staff and concubines escape with their children and families. As a sign of gratitude, they gave me art pieces. I’ve kept them safe and I’ve only sold a couple to get capital for new lives.” </p><p>“Where have you been selling them?” Bridge asked, his policeman instincts kicking in. </p><p>“They’re valueless trinkets now,” Billy reminded them. “No black market for art survived Venjix. Nobody can pay for those priceless little treasures. They lost all their value in the wake of Venjix.” </p><p>“Not all of it,” RJ said. “They’re still beautifully crafted pieces that bring joy to those who look at them. That makes them valuable too.” </p><p>The heavy silence fell over them again and it was Billy who broke it: “Bridge, can you give us a minute?” </p><p>Bridge nodded. “Sure,” he said and left the lab. </p><p>Billy moved to RJ’s worktable and started setting up the cables on Bridge’s morpher. “I am having difficulty imagining you as a young man who thought getting married and having children for the service of Our Lord was the right thing to do.” </p><p>“To be honest, me too.” </p><p>“God’s punishment, RJ, really?” </p><p>“There’s only so much self-punishment I can put myself through.” </p><p>“Were there women and children on the ship?” </p><p>“No.” RJ ran his hands through his hair and then gestured towards Billy. “But that doesn’t make it any better.” </p><p>They both fell silent again and RJ started putting the cables on Jen’s morpher to avoid looking at Billy. </p><p>“I understand you had different beliefs back then, RJ.” </p><p>RJ’s head snapped up and he looked at Billy’s eyes. “You do?” </p><p>“Yeah. Besides, I can’t hold any of that against you. You forgave me for creating Venjix.” </p><p>“You didn’t create Venjix.” </p><p>“You didn’t blow up your ship.” </p><p>“Are we cool then? About that?” </p><p>“I’m gonna need a couple of days,” Billy said. “To get used to the idea of you being immortal.” </p><p>“Right,” RJ whispered. “I have to finish here and you have to finish the antivirus.” He took a deep breath. “Bridge!” </p><p>The green ranger’s head popped into the room. “Yes?” </p><p>“We’re done talking.” </p><p>They spend a few minutes working in silence. It wasn’t until RJ pulled out the marble-like crystal out of his pocket that conversation restarted. </p><p>“What’s that?” Billy asked from the computer. </p><p>“Oh, it’s a crystal I got in Australia a few years back. It helps me concentrate the grid’s energy to connect morphers.” </p><p>Billy and Bridge both got up and walked towards RJ, obviously curious to know more about this magic-like crystal. RJ had it on the palm of his hand and offered a closer look. The crystal seemed transparent but at the same time it sort of shone pink. </p><p>“Where did you get this?” Billy asked. </p><p>“Australia, I just said. In the 80’s,” RJ answered. “The 1980’s,” he clarified before the others asked. </p><p>“How did you get it?” </p><p>“I saved a woman and her horse in the outback once and she gave me a shard of a crystal that was very special to her family or something. I reshaped it into a sphere to help the morpher connection process.” He closed his hand and looked at Billy. “Do you know what it is? It reads as pure carbon, which would make it a diamond but it’s nowhere near that hard.” </p><p>“I think it’s a piece of the Zeo crystal, the timeline seems to fit Kat’s journey story. The Zeo Crystal is a crystal that connects directly with the grid, the source of the purest and strongest ranger powers all over the universe.” </p><p>“Well, whatever it is, I’m gonna use it to piggyback the three new morphers off of Bridge and Jen’s.” </p><p>“Three?” Billy asked. “There’s four of us without morpher.” </p><p>“Just three: You, Lauren and me.” </p><p>“What about Chip?” Bridge asked. </p><p>RJ shrugged. “Chip doesn’t have his morpher with him and I can’t just whip up one with another phone for him. His powers work on his belief in magic. If he doesn’t believe, the morpher won’t be able to access his powers.” </p><p>“If you can’t make him a morpher, where is he going to get one?” Bridge asked. </p><p>“Well, it’s gotta come from the same place as his powers,” RJ said, returning to work. “Magic.” </p><p> </p><p>It took RJ about an hour to set up the entire experiment. He hoped to piggyback off Jen and Bridge’s morphers without destroying them. He sighed. </p><p>“Ok, this is set up.” </p><p>Billy and Bridge looked up from where they were working and found him putting on dark protection glasses. </p><p>“Perhaps you two should leave while I activate this, I don’t want to give either of you snow blindness. </p><p>Reluctantly, Billy and Bridge left the lab and closed the door behind them. </p><p>RJ positioned the shard of the Zeo Crystal in its place and activated the device he had build. A very bright light shone out of the Zeo Crystal as the two working morphers activated and powered the other three. </p><p>The whole processes lasted about half a minute. </p><p>When the light stopped shinning, RJ removed his safety goggles and called for the others. </p><p>“Did it work?” Billy asked. </p><p>“There’s only one way to find out.” </p><p>All three of them grabbed their morphers and looked at each other. </p><p>“We’ll be fine,” RJ said. </p><p>“It’s morphing time!” </p><p>“S-P-D! Emergency!” </p><p>“Jungle beast, spirit unleashed!” </p><p>They stood there looking at each other, without any malfunction. </p><p>“You’re good,” Billy told RJ through his blue helmet. “I’ll give you that.” </p><p> </p><p>Outside of Corinth, Doctor K continued to be a prisoner in her own mind. She sat on the floor of the reconstruction of her Alphabet Soup cell, wishing Gem and Gemma were there with her. </p><p>“How about—” </p><p>“Coming up—” </p><p>“With a plan!” </p><p>She looked up after hearing Gem and Gemma’s voices but Venjix hadn’t been cruel enough to recreate them for her. </p><p>“Come on, good Doc,” she heard Flynn say. “We’re not with Venjix.” </p><p>“Venjix can’t get us in here,” Said Summer’s voice. </p><p>“We’re here for you, Doc,” Scott said. </p><p>“Yeah, just tell us what to do and we’re on it,” Ziggy said. </p><p>“Guess we’re all in it to win it,” Dillon finished. </p><p>“Where are you?” K asked in a very soft voice. </p><p>Then, right before her eyes, her team of ranger series operators appeared before her eyes. </p><p>“This is beyond cruel, Venjix,” K said. </p><p>“It’s not Venjix,” Summer told her. </p><p>“What?” </p><p>“You are—” </p><p>“Asleep!” </p><p>“And dreaming of us!” Ziggy added excitedly.  </p><p>“I miss you so much,” K told them. </p><p>“Well, we don’t have much time, Doc,” Scott said. “We need to come up with a plan. We have to stop whatever Venjix is planning.” </p><p>“That is not physically possible at the moment,” K said. “I can only hope to resist his infection as long as I can.” </p><p>“I can help with that,” Dillon said. </p><p>“Yes! You know how to resist Venjix!” she told him. “How do I do it?” </p><p>“You’re doing it right now,” Dillon told her, pointing at the ceiling of the cell. K saw the number 50 change to 49. </p><p>“It’s not a great difference,” she whispered. </p><p>“Hang on to that 1%, doc,” Dillon told her. “That 1% is everyone’s last hope.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Believe</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chip and Lauren were walking around the garage, keeping an eye out for the Grinders that had attacked them at Billy’s, but the robots had either lost them or were no longer looking for Billy. That second possibility filled Lauren with the fear of what they were doing that they lost interest in hunting them. </p><p>“Where do you think those Grinders came from?” She asked Chip. </p><p>“When a mommy factory and a daddy virus love each other very, very much…” Chip replied and they both chuckled. Lauren bumped him gently on the arm. “Well, I mean, they obviously came from a Venjix factory. I don’t think they’ve all been destroyed.” </p><p>“It had to be a nearby factory, they came out of nowhere. What worries me is that Jen’s equipment hasn’t alerted us to them, we hadn’t even seen them until they attacked us at Billy’s and there were a lot of them.” </p><p>“They’re being stealthy, like spies. Or maybe the camera can’t see them, like vampires.” </p><p>“Chip, I’m serious! Why hadn’t we had a single reading for Grinders until yesterday. And why would they attack us at Billy’s if they don’t want us to know they’re around the city?” </p><p>“Well…” Chip started, realized he needed more time to think and shut up for a few seconds. “Maybe Venjix is also going after Billy.” </p><p>“Why?” </p><p>“Bridge and I came to the conclusion that he kidnapped K to access the Morphing Grid. Maybe he wants Billy to help too.” </p><p>“But if Venjix is going after people who can help him use the Morphing Grid, then why not go after RJ?” She asked. </p><p>Chip took a couple of seconds to answer again. “Wait, Venjix DID go after RJ, Remember? The first place the Grinders attacked was—” </p><p>“Jungle Karma Pizza!” Lauren ended. “You’re right! Venjix is going after people who can help with the Morphing Grid!” </p><p>“Or maybe people who he thinks can stop him. I mean, we wouldn’t be anywhere near defeating him without Billy and RJ.”  </p><p>They had kept walking, getting further from the garage, towards the city center. Chip sighed. “It’s so hot, isn’t it?” </p><p>“Yeah, it’s supposed to be winter but it feels more like summer.” </p><p>“You want to eat ice cream? There’s this amazing gelato store nearby, RJ invited me there once. It’s really good.” </p><p>“RJ took you out to eat ice cream?” Lauren asked, insulted. </p><p>“I thought he had invited you too! He didn’t? That’s bizarre.” </p><p>“No, it was sushi for me,” she cleared. “He just wanted to make sure that I was feeling fine.” </p><p>“Same,” He said. “I don’t think he was feeling fine at the moment, though.” He stopped walking and dried the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. “Well, ice cream then?” </p><p>“Sure!” </p><p>They walked towards the center of the domed city, where the ice cream parlor was. They were talking animatedly about the morphers RJ would be making for them and how Lauren would make a great red ranger for this team, when they heard screaming.  </p><p>“Did you hear that?” Lauren asked. </p><p>“Yes, it came from there!” Chip said, pointing in the direction of the center of the dome. </p><p>They were about two blocks away from where the city’s control command tower hung, and they ran looking for the source of the screaming. </p><p>And they found it. </p><p>Grinders were dragging people right underneath the command tower, and from the tower, a beam of light shone over the people, whose bodies disappeared into the light itself. They screamed as hard as they could while this was happening. Lauren and Chip watched in horror as a group of ten people vanished into light in front of their eyes. </p><p>“What the--?” Chip whispered. </p><p>Lauren grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him to hide behind a car. She dried the sweat off her eyes. </p><p>“It’s even hotter here,” she said. “What do you think they’re doing?” </p><p>“Teleporting them?” Chip suggested. “Killing them?” He sounded desperate. “Come on, we have to go back to the garage, we have to tell the…” his voice trailed off when he looked up and saw a Grinder pointing its gun at them. “Others,” he finished. </p><p>They stood up and faced the robot, sweat running down their faces and necks. Chip took off his sweater and took the smallest step forward, instinctively putting himself between the robot and Lauren. He had already lost one best friend to Venjix, and he wasn’t about to lose another one. </p><p>The grinder moved closer to them, not firing his gun for some reason. Chip ran to it and kicked it hard on the chest, making it fall on its back. The Grinder called for reinforcements from the ground and, in the blink of an eye, Lauren and Chip found themselves facing a large group of robots, the noise coming from them deafening. </p><p>“I can’t summon my sword,” Lauren told Chip after running to stand beside him. </p><p>“I can’t perform magic and I don’t have my bow,” Chip added. </p><p>They looked at the group of Grinders, breathing hard, at a complete loss of what to do. “Should we make a run for it?” Lauren suggested. </p><p>“I think it’s the best plan,” Chip agreed. “I’m all for a perilous mission but this is ridiculous.” </p><p>They turned around but to their horror there were more Grinders coming towards them from that direction too.  </p><p>Soon, they were surrounded. </p><p>“I don’t want to scare you, but I think they know who we are,” Chip told Lauren, when several of the Grinders pointed their guns at them. “from Billy’s house.” </p><p>“Should we make a run through them?” Lauren suggested with a grimace. </p><p>“It’s the only plan,” he said with a nod. She nodded back. </p><p>They made a run towards the Grinders, kicking and punching their way through, trying to get past the belt of robots so they could run back to the garage. Neither one had a way to communicate with the others, and unlike their fight for JKP, they didn’t have their weapons on them. And fighting the robots one-on-one hurt, a lot. These were not even the same Grinders that had attacked them at the restaurant. These Grinders were different. They were more agile, stronger and harder to defeat. </p><p>Despite all their efforts, they were soon separated from each other and they fought back as hard as they could, in a desperate attempt to escape together from the apparently sealed fate of dying at the hand of this horde of robots. </p><p> It wasn’t long before Chip found his mind taking him to two years ago, outside Briarwood, fighting against a group of Grinders with Vida, and losing. He remembered being pinned to the ground, strangled while Vida was shot on the chest, not given any chance to escape the fate of death. He was distracted by the memories flooding his mind and he felt a kick to the back of his knees and fell down on all fours, a Grinder kicking the air out of him and bringing him back to the current reality. He turned his head, trying to find Lauren, decided to not lose her like he lost Vida. </p><p>He found her and his mind was sent back to Vida. Two Grinders were grabbing Lauren’s arms while a third one pointed its gun at her. A Grinder grabbed Chip by the neck, its vice-like grip strangling him. </p><p>Chip found himself unable to breathe, his heart beating hard on his chest, the blood trying to flow turning his pale face into a bright shade of red. He kicked weakly, the thumping of the blood in his ears reminded him that his time was running out. He closed his eyes, knowing full and well what the only escape for him and Lauren was. It wasn’t something outside of them, it was inside of him, it was a state of mind. He allowed himself to think of the last few days: time travel, psychic powers, magic water, immortality, animal spirits, magic swords… All the magic in his life came back to him. He remembered using magic in Rootcore, using it to defeat the demons. The magic normal people and wood creatures had gathered together to give him and his team mates their powers back. Magic was real, he knew this, it wasn’t just a belief, he had seen it, he had used it, he could control it. He focused only on that, as his body fought for air desperately, kicking the Grinder weakly. </p><p> Lauren’s screams as she tried to free herself pierced through the drumming in his ears: </p><p>“Chip! Stay with me!” She called. “I don’t want to lose you too!” </p><p>Chip took a deep breath and opened his eyes. “I…” he said through the chokehold. “believe…” he closed his eyes again, focusing on the memory of Vida. “In… magic.” </p><p>He felt electricity running down his arm and then his fingers wrapped around his magic wand as it materialized in his hand. With his last vestige of consciousness, he willed a lighting strike to hit the Grinder choking him. He felt to the ground along with the Grinder, taking several deep breaths, trying to regain control. Lauren screamed again as she tried to free herself from the Grinders and he pointed his wand in her direction, sending more lighting to the Grinders attacking her. </p><p> “Chip!” She yelled, running towards him. “Your powers! They’re back!° </p><p>He hugged her, using his wand to shoot more lighting at more Grinders behind her back.  </p><p>“Galwit Mysto Transio!” He said, pointing his wand to the ground. A magic seal appeared under them and they were magically taken to the inside of the garage in an instant. </p><p>Lauren let out a loud laugh. “You did it!” </p><p>“Yeah! I saved you!” Chip said, hugging her again. “You’re okay!” </p><p>“So are you! You had me scared for a little while!”  </p><p>They stood there hugging and squealing for a while until Chip said: “We should tell the others about the people.” </p><p>They ran into the lab and found that Jen was already back from her own patrol, and she was sitting with Bridge on her terminal, rubbing her right calf. </p><p>“Guys!” Lauren yelled. The other all looked up. “Chip got his powers back!” </p><p>“Excellent news!” RJ said. He took Lauren’s Samurizer from the table and offered it to her. “So did you,” he took a small bow. “Leader.” </p><p>Lauren froze looking at the morpher, not taking it. </p><p>“L,” Chip started. “Right now it’s not the moment to doubt yourself.” </p><p>“How did you get your powers back?” Jen asked Chip, walking towards them. </p><p>“Right!” Lauren said, shaking her head. “There is a small army of Grinders taking people to the center of the dome!” </p><p>“Where they are being turned into light or something!” Chip added. </p><p>“Turned into light?” Billy asked, getting up from his terminal as well. </p><p>“It’s really bright and hot downtown, the closer you get to the city center, the hottest and brightest it gets,” Chip added. </p><p>Billy looked at Bridge and RJ. “Any ideas?” They both shook their heads. </p><p>Before Billy could add anything else, Jen asked: “How is there a small army of Grinders downtown and our system hasn’t alerted us?” </p><p>“Good point!” Bridge said, running back to Jen’s terminal. Jen followed him. </p><p>Billy and RJ stood there, looking at each other. “I think Venjix learned how to harness the power of the Morphing Grid,” Billy said. </p><p>“We are in so much trouble.” </p><p>“It seems our system was fooled,” Jen said from the other end of the lab. “With the oldest trick in the book, the video feed is looped.” </p><p>“It’s long enough for us and the computer to not notice the loop,” Bridge said, typing furiously in Jen’s terminal. “But I can see the code line added to the programming.” </p><p>“So Venjix is using the power of the Morphing Grid to turn people into light?” Billy asked RJ. </p><p>“It would seem so,” RJ answered. </p><p>“And it was premeditated enough to loop the surveillance system of the city,” Jen added. “To keep anyone who might be supervising believing everything was normal.” </p><p>“And Venjix couldn’t have meant to trick K because he has her,” Bridge said. “So it looped the feed for others.” </p><p>“Others like us,” Billy said. </p><p>“The Morphing Grid must have told Venjix everything he needed to know about every single Power Rangers team ever,” RJ told Billy. </p><p>Billy grimaced and bumped his forehead with his fist. “Not the Morphing Grid,” he told RJ. “K.” </p><p>“She told him everything about every ranger ever?” Chip asked. “How would she know?” </p><p>“There’s a database, code named The Hexagon Project. Everything anyone could possibly need to know about every ranger team on Earth is in it. Only selected members of some groups have access to it.” </p><p>“And you’re sure K had access?” RJ asked. </p><p>“Very, since I gave her access myself.” </p><p>“So he knows how our powers work?” Chip asked. “He will have prepared for everything! We can’t win!” </p><p>“We have to stop him!” Lauren yelled, turning towards the door. </p><p>“Lauren, wait!” Billy called her. “We can’t stop Venjix unless the antivirus is complete, and it isn’t. Not yet.” </p><p>“People are dying!” </p><p>“I know, Lauren, but I can’t go any faster. Venjix is a very complicated virus.” He took a deep breath. “I have no way of knowing how much K read about other teams, maybe not enough, maybe nothing at all, beyond the general knowledge that there are more rangers out there, other than her team. We can’t just rush in without being prepared.” </p><p>“Do you think Doctor K has been turned into light?” Bridge asked, returning to the group from the other end of the lab. </p><p>“We have no way of knowing,” Billy said. </p><p>“I’d like to know if Venjix is in the city,” RJ said. “It would be useful to know its whereabouts.” </p><p>“I’d like to discover a way to trap Venjix in a single hard drive and destroy it along with said hard drive,” Billy said. “But wishing is not creating and I can’t find a way to trap all of Venjix in only one hard drive.” </p><p>They all stood there in silence, all desperate to go out and help but also with their hands tied. It was during moments like these that being a Power Ranger was the hardest. Anyone could win a physical fight, but recovering from these mental and emotional blows was not for the faint of heart. </p><p>RJ raised his right hand, his eyes shinning, and a small smirk forming on his face. “Billy, what is the problem with the antivirus exactly?” </p><p>“I haven’t finished the quarantine protocols. I need to make it so the virus can go in but can’t get out. I have to trap it in one drive if possible.” </p><p>“Bridge, do you think you could scan the city for Venjix with your powers?” </p><p>“I can try but I’ve never read huge areas before, besides, Venjix would be in the city systems or in a robot and that may not leave the best prints.” </p><p>“But you can try?” </p><p>“Yes…” </p><p>“And you,” He said and turned to Jen. “Can I have a look into your magic bag?” </p><p>“I guess so,” she answered. “what are you looking for?” </p><p>“I’m not sure yet.” RJ pursed his lips, clearly thinking. “I think what we need is teamwork,” he announced. </p><p>“Teamwork?” Billy asked. “I’m all for it but how is teamwork going to win this battle?” </p><p>“Chip is going to help Bridge find Venjix,” RJ told Billy. “And Lauren and Jen are going to help you trap Venjix.” He smiled and licked his lips. “It’s time we fought technology with the one thing we have that Venjix can’t understand,” he said. ”Magic.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Not alone</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They all looked at RJ as if he had lost his mind. Silence falling between them as they tried to understand his idea. </p><p>“You want to fight Venjix with magic?” Billy asked after a few seconds of silence. </p><p>“Yeah.” RJ’s relaxed face showed them he was certain that his idea was a good one. </p><p>“That’s actually genius!” Chip said. “Because Venjix is a computer virus, magic will confuse it! It can’t adapt to magic!” </p><p>“How do you know magic will work against technology?” Jen asked RJ. </p><p>“I have seen technology work against magic,” RJ said. “The morphers and weapons I created, they were all technology, but they worked fine against the magic of Dai Shi’s beast. They worked with the magic of our animal spirits, magic and technology are not mutually exclusive.” </p><p>Jen turned to Billy who nodded. “He’s right. I’ve seen both magic and technology working with and against each other.” </p><p>“You’re talking about technology working to fight magic, not the other way around,” Jen said. </p><p>“Well, I’ve seen magic defeat technology,” Chip said with a shrug. </p><p>“When you were a ranger?” Jen asked. </p><p>“Nope, just now, when I used magical lighting to blow up some Grinders and teleport myself and Lauren here. Magic could actually be the answer to defeat Venjix.” </p><p>“Think about it,” RJ added. </p><p>Bridge raised his hand. “Are we forgetting that the whole point of this mission was to rescue Doctor K?” </p><p>“No,” RJ told him. “But we have to find her first, and to find her, we need to find Venjix, to find Venjix we need your powers.” </p><p>“My powers?” Bridge asked, pointing at himself. </p><p>“Yes. I’m sure Chip has a spell that can help make them stronger. That way, you will be able to scan the whole city.” He turned to Chip. “Can you think of any spell that can work with that?” </p><p>“Give me a minute,” Chip said. He moved to seat on one of the stools of the kitchen, deep in thought. </p><p>RJ turned to Jen. “Do you have something like a hard drive that is big enough to store Venjix?” </p><p>“I can look,” she said, touching the bead in her gauntlet that brought up the menu of equipment. “But Venjix is all over the planet, I don’t see how we can trap him in a single hard drive.” </p><p>“Billy, prepare the antivirus to force Venjix into Jen’s device, if she has one,” RJ said and turned to Lauren. “Tell me more about the seal symbol you mentioned the other day.” </p><p>“It was to seal the evil of Master Xandred back in the Nighlok world. It wasn’t created to work against a computer virus.” </p><p>“Not even an evil computer virus?” </p><p>“A computer virus has no real morality,” Lauren said, shaking her head. “It is not inheritably evil. In its own twisted way, Venjix thinks it’s doing the right thing.” </p><p>“Tell that to the people being turned to light,” Chip said from the kitchen. </p><p>“She’s right,” Billy said. “Venjix is just doing what it was programmed to do. Taking over military bases, reproducing, breaking down codes and causing mayhem.” </p><p>“How do you know what Venjix was created for?” Jen asked. </p><p>“Doctor K has a file in the lab’s computer,” Billy said, avoiding eye contact. “I found it a few days ago when I finished repairing the main console.” </p><p>Jen fixed her eyes on Billy for a while and then looked at RJ. The wolf master’s face was serious but relaxed. Jen looked at Bridge and saw the officer was pushing against his inner cheek with his tongue, a gesture she had come to associate with Bridge being suspicious. </p><p>“I may have to modify the seal to work with Venjix,” Lauren said, breaking the tense moment. “I don’t know how long it can take me.” </p><p>“You have an hour,” Jen told her, still looking at her available equipment. “We all have an hour.” </p><p>“Wait!” Bridge pleaded. “I can’t scan the whole city in one hour, I will go mad!” </p><p>“Then don’t,” Jen said. “Start at the center, if Venjix is turning people into light there, he’s close by.” </p><p>“I have a spell that can help us track evil,” Chip told Bridge. </p><p>“Venjix is not inheritably evil!” Lauren repeated. “You can’t use evil as a reason to—” </p><p>“My powers and spell work with my intention and belief,” Chip explained. “If I use the evil tracking spell with the intention to find Venjix, I will find him!” </p><p>Lauren let out a huff. “I better get working on that seal symbol,” She said and walked towards the garage area. </p><p>“I have a question,” Billy started. “I will work on the antivirus, Lauren will work on the seal, Jen is looking for equipment, Chip and Bridge will scan the city.” He said all this while pointing at each member of the team. Finally, he pointed at RJ. “What are you going to do?” </p><p>“I’m going to tame my animal spirit,” RJ said, and then, with a smirk he added: “And then, Venjix will know fury.” </p><p>“Let’s do it, we don’t have much time,” Jen said. </p><p> </p><p>They all got to work on their respective tasks. Bridge and Chip left the garage to go to the city center and scan for Venjix there. </p><p>Billy got to work on the final touches of the antivirus, furiously typing in the main frame computer, so fast and focused it seemed he wasn’t even blinking. </p><p>Lauren stood in the empty space of the garage, carefully drawing invisible lines in the air with her index finger. </p><p>Jen was still looking for a device that could trap all of Venjix, but the infallible Commander Robertson seemed to have forgotten to put a quantum computer among her equipment. </p><p>RJ was on the roof. He was sitting with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. He breathed deeply and slowly, relaxing as he focused on his wolf. </p><p>He took off the leash necklace and put it next to him, his breathing immediately turning fast and labored.  </p><p>His wolf jumped out from his chest, howling and then barking. </p><p>RJ forced his eyes to remain closed. </p><p>“We are safe,” he told his wolf mentally. “It’s alright, it wasn’t your fault, it wasn’t my fault… we are free.” </p><p>The spirit howled again and growled at RJ. The master kept his eyes closed, his breathing returning to the slow, peaceful rhythm he had had. </p><p>“I am not afraid of you,” he told the wolf out loud. “I am not afraid of us,” he took another deep breath. “We are safe and free.” </p><p>The wolf growled again, barking at RJ and moving closer to him, its fur standing on end and drool falling out of its snout. </p><p>RJ took another breath. “I am not afraid,” he repeated. “Because we are not alone anymore.” </p><p> </p><p>Inside the garage, Jen suddenly felt a shiver go through her and felt as if the breath had been knocked out of her. She looked up at Billy. </p><p>Billy had looked up from the computer too, but he was looking at the ceiling with a confused expression. </p><p>Lauren walked into the lab. “Did you feel that?” she asked. </p><p>“Feel what?” Billy asked. </p><p>“I felt a shiver run through me, and then—” </p><p>“Like the air had been knocked out of you?” Jen completed and Lauren nodded. “I felt it too.” She looked at Billy. “Did you?” </p><p>Billy nodded, and in that moment, Jen’s morpher beeped. </p><p>“Bridge?” </p><p>“I think Venjix is up to something serious, Chip and I just felt—” </p><p>“Like the air had been knocked out you and a shiver?” </p><p>“Yes,” Bridge said. “Is it Venjix?” </p><p>“No,” Billy answered in a soft voice, still looking at the ceiling. “I think it was RJ.” </p><p> </p><p>RJ’s eyes were still closed, and in his mind, he saw his wolf spirit, angrily snapping its jaws at him. </p><p>“We are not alone anymore,” he repeated. “We don’t have any secrets left.” </p><p>The wolf howled again and snapped its jaws, but somehow was unable to attack its master. </p><p>“I know,” RJ whispered. “It was a hard truth to swallow, buddy. Give them time.” </p><p>The wolf howled again. </p><p>“They will come. We are not alone.” </p><p>That seemed to unleash the wolf from whatever was holding back from attacking RJ and it launched at him.  </p><p>Just as it was about to land on RJ, a flash of pink knocked it away from the master. A neigh followed the flash of pink and RJ smirked. </p><p>“Hello, Jen.” </p><p>The wolf snapped its jaws at Jen’s mare spirit, that was standing between him and RJ. It launched another attack and a flash of blue knocked it back again. </p><p>Billy’s wolf returned RJ’s howl and growl, positioning itself to RJ’s right. </p><p>RJ’s wolf walked around Billy and Jen’s spirit and tried to attack RJ again. A flash of red jumped over RJ and pushed the unruly wolf back again. </p><p>Lauren’s lioness was there to protect RJ’s back. </p><p>RJ’s wolf got angrier with every spirit that appeared to protect its master and launched as fast as it could through the only side of RJ that was unprotected.  </p><p>A flash of green and a flash of yellow appeared as Bridge’s owl and Chip’s dragonfly attacked the wolf’s eyes, causing it to step back. </p><p>“It’s alright, my friend,” RJ whispered. “We are not alone. They are here for us.” </p><p>This time, the wolf whimpered instead of growling. </p><p>The other five animal spirits moved away from RJ and surrounded the wolf. RJ opened his eyes just as his wolf jumped to attack Jen’s mare. </p><p>“Stop it!” RJ ordered. </p><p>But the wolf didn’t listen. Jen’s mare kicked it and it got up, running towards Billy’s wolf. </p><p>“Stop!” RJ called again. </p><p>The wolf fought against Billy’s spirit and then launched at Bridge’s owl. </p><p>“Please, stop this!” </p><p>The wolf hit Chip’s dragonfly with its claw and Lauren’s lioness moved to defend the dragonfly and got hit across the snout too. </p><p>“They are here to help us!” </p><p>RJ’s wolf then tried to bite Bridge’s owl and the bigger spirits surrounded it. RJ’s wolf feeling more and more defeated and scared lashed out, hitting them all trying to run away. </p><p>“That’s enough!” RJ yelled with a very stern voice. </p><p>The wolf turned to him, growling. </p><p>RJ held its stare, his face stern. The other animals stood between them. </p><p>“Thanks,” RJ started. “But this is between him and me.” </p><p>The other animals moved away but didn’t disappear. </p><p>The wolf growled. </p><p>“I know you’re angry, I am angry too. But this is getting us nowhere.” </p><p>The wolf snapped its jaws. </p><p>“I’m sorry I blamed you,” RJ told him. “I’m really sorry I blamed you. It was my fault, all of it. It was all my fault.” </p><p>The wolf growled again. </p><p>“I’m sorry.” </p><p>The wolf howled, snapped its jaws and tried to fly away from RJ. </p><p>“It’s over, old friend,” RJ told him, tears in his eyes. “The hunt is over, we won,” he said. The wolf stopped and turned to him. “That’s enough. We’ve both had enough.” </p><p>The wolf whimpered. </p><p>“We have new friends,” RJ said, pointing over his shoulder at the other spirits. “We have to save Doctor K and defeat Venjix, but we can only do it together.” </p><p>The wolf howled and turned away from RJ, trying to fly away. </p><p>“Enough of this!” RJ called, getting up. “Come back this instant!” </p><p>The wolf turned around, its head low. </p><p>“Come back, it’s over,” RJ repeated. He sounded like a father telling of a small child. “That’s enough.” </p><p>The wolf growled again and ran towards him. </p><p>“I said enough!” RJ yelled and showed the wolf his chest. The animal went straight into his chest and he took a deep breath. He closed his eyes. “It’s over, we are free.” </p><p>The wolf inside of him stirred but then the other five spirits surrounded RJ, cuddling close to him.  </p><p>RJ’s wolf inside of him began turning back into his trusted purple wolf. </p><p>“We are all in this together, my friend. It’s time to go big or go home.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Heated up</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bridge and Chip arrived at the spot where Chip and Lauren had seen the people turning into light. The beam was still shinning from the tower but there were only half a dozen Grinders standing guard.  </p><p>“Okay, I have a spell that will find Venjix for us if its nearby,” Chip explained. </p><p>“Hang on,” Bridge said, taking off one of his gloves. “Let me check something.” </p><p>He moved his hand in front of his face in a sweeping motion, got obviously confused and tried again. </p><p>“What’s wrong?” Chip asked. </p><p>“The print… is… a block.” </p><p>“A block?” </p><p>“Yes, it’s just one big print. There’s no variation, no changes, nothing. Just a block of energy. Like a blank canvas.” </p><p>“Is that normal?” </p><p>“I have never seen anything like that, and I’ve had these powers all my life,” Bridge said, taking of his other glove. </p><p>“That’s weird.” </p><p>Bridge had slid both of his hands in front of his face but there was no variation to what he was seeing. </p><p>“It’s like the air around us is alive,” he told Chip. </p><p>“Maybe it is,” Chip said and covered his nose and mouth with his inner elbow. “What if we are breathing people?” </p><p>Bridge said nothing but also covered his nose and mouth. </p><p> </p><p>RJ walked back into the building and found Lauren deeply focused tracing invisible lines in the air. </p><p>“How’s it going?” He asked her. </p><p>“It’s complicated to add the symbols for computer and virus to a seal that is hundreds of years old.” </p><p>“Is there anything I can help you with?” </p><p>“Not right now.” </p><p>He nodded and made his way to the lab. Billy was still typing as fast as he could, and Jen was browsing through her catalogue with a defeated expression. </p><p>“Something wrong?” he asked Jen, standing close to her. </p><p>She turned to look at him and their faces were almost close enough to steal a kiss. “Unless we take the main computer from the time ship, I have nothing remotely big enough to trap all of Venjix here,” she said, turning her face away from him. “The closest I have is 2 doses of nanites.” </p><p>“Nanites?” </p><p>“From the first aid kit. The ones I used on your back. They are microscopic computers that can be programmed for hundreds of medical purposes.” </p><p>“Huh,” RJ said and pouted. He turned to Billy. “How is the antivirus coming?” </p><p>“Well, it can trap one instance of Venjix into a hard drive,” Billy said without looking away from the computer. “What I don’t see is how we are going to defeat all of Venjix. Unless Chip has a spell for that too.” </p><p>RJ shrugged. “Maybe he does.” </p><p> </p><p>Chip and Bridge moved back from the center a couple of blocks. They uncovered their faces and looked at each other. </p><p>“Do you really think we were breathing people?” Chip asked, going even paler. </p><p>“Well, there was only one print,” Bridge said. “And it was all around us.” </p><p>“But Venjix wouldn’t be turning people into air,” Chip said dismissively, ignoring the fact it was him who mentioned they were breathing people. He pulled on he collar of his t-shirt as beads of sweat formed on his forehead. </p><p>Bridge felt his own sweat running down his back under his heavy SPD uniform jacket. “Not air!” He said out of nowhere as he took his jacket off. “It’s supposed to be winter, right?” </p><p>“Technically, but it’s too hot.” </p><p>“Too hot and bright!” Bridge responded, raising his right index finger. “Venjix isn’t turning people into air. He’s turning people into heat! And possibly light!” </p><p>“How does that make it better?” Chip asked, still tugging at his shirt’s collar. </p><p>“It doesn’t,” Bridge said. “But it gives us answers.” </p><p>“Maybe to you, it only gave me more questions.” </p><p>“We have to find Venjix. We’re running out of time.” </p><p>Chip raised his wand and pronounced a spell that sounded to Bridge like he was speaking tongues. </p><p>“Galwit Misto locatio!” </p><p>A small ball of yellow energy formed over Chip’s wand and then flew away, growing bigger the higher it floated. Chip and Bridge followed it with their sights and the ball contracted at the bottom of the city command tower. </p><p>“There he is!” Chip said pointing in the direction of the tower. “We have to tell the others.” </p><p>Bridge took out his morphers and pressed a button to talk into it. “Eh, Jen?” </p><p>“Yes?” Jen answered from the device. </p><p>“We found Venjix, he’s in the city command center.” </p><p>“Good work.” </p><p>“We also have a theory of what happened to the prisoners Chip and Lauren saw earlier.” </p><p>“Go on.” </p><p>“We think they were turned into light and heat.” </p><p>“Light and heat?” They heard Billy say. </p><p>“Yes,” Bridge answered. </p><p>“Don’t go anywhere near that tower without morphing!” Billy instructed. </p><p>“Why not?” Chip asked. </p><p>“Just don’t. Wait for us in a secure location, we’ll be right there,” Jen said. </p><p>“Ok,” Bridge said and closed the communication. </p><p> </p><p>“Turned into light and heat?” Jen asked Billy in the lab. </p><p>“The Morphing Grid can only be accessed securely through a morpher,” Billy explained. “The armor acts like a Faraday Cage, it stops the full force of the Grid from entering our bodies.” </p><p>“That way, the power doesn’t disintegrate our bodies,” RJ finished. </p><p>“You think Venjix exposed those people to the Morphing Grid?” </p><p>“Without any protection, yes,” RJ said. </p><p>“We already knew Venjix was probably trying to access the Morphing Grid using K’s knowledge,” Billy said. </p><p>“But why would the Morphing Grid help Venjix?” Jen asked. </p><p>“The Morphing Grid is a source of power, like electricity. You can use electricity to lighten up a dark room or to execute a death row prisoner. Electricity doesn’t have a sense of right or wrong, good or evil. It just powers up whatever is plugged into it,” RJ explained. </p><p>“That’s the reason there are evil ranger,” Billy added. “The Morphing Grid powers up evil rangers as well as good rangers. It has no way of discerning the final purpose of the power it is providing.” </p><p>Jen looked at both of them in silence and then walked towards the door of the lab. “Lauren! Time’s up! We have to go now!” </p><p>“I thought we had an hour!” Lauren answered. </p><p>“Me too, but we don’t. We have to go now,” Jen told her, walking to where she was. “Lauren,” she started. “This is it. No more doubting. You are the red ranger. You are the leader.” </p><p>Lauren swallowed hard. “I don’t think—” </p><p>“Lauren, time is up,” Jen repeated. Lauren looked past Jen at RJ and Billy that were out of the lab too. </p><p>“Would you guys follow me?” She asked them. </p><p>“To the end,” RJ said. </p><p>“You are the red ranger,” Billy said with a nod. </p><p>Lauren looked at all of them and nodded. “Let’s go rain on Venjix’s parade.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Failed execution</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lauren, Jen, Billy and RJ met Bridge and Chip about two blocks away from the city’s control tower. Hidden from the Grinders, they gathered in a close group to decide their strategy. </p><p>“Now what?” Chip asked. </p><p>They all turned to Lauren. “We need to get inside that tower and shut down that beam,” she said. </p><p>“And destroy Venjix!” Chip added. </p><p>“We’ll destroy one instance of Venjix. I can’t promise we will clean every system on the planet with this antivirus,” Billy cleared up, looking uneasy. </p><p>“I can,” Chip said. “There’s a spell that can suck all instances of Venjix with this one! It’s a complex spell but I’m sure I can pull it off!” </p><p>Billy looked at him in disbelief and snapped: “You could have mentioned that and saved me half an hour of typing.” Billy told him. </p><p>Chip shook his head. “No, it can’t substitute your antivirus, only suck Venjix into the drive where you trap it.” </p><p>“Ok, here’s the plan,” Lauren said. “Bridge and Jen will keep the Grinders at bay at the bottom, to keep them from helping Venjix. Billy, Chip, RJ and I will go into the tower. Chip and Billy will set up the whole antivirus thing, and RJ and I will find Doctor K.” </p><p>“No,” Billy said. He took a small device out of his pocket. “RJ, this is the transmitter, it will send Venjix to the biggest drive Jen gave me. I need it on Venjix’s body.” </p><p>“Why are you giving it to him?” Jen asked. </p><p>“Because Venjix can’t kill me,” RJ said, taking the device. </p><p>“Try to distract him, I need a few minutes to set up the antivirus.” </p><p>“How am I supposed to keep Venjix distracted for a few minutes?” RJ asked. </p><p>“Flirt with him,” Billy said with a smirk. “It works with everybody else.” </p><p>They all snorted and RJ rolled his eyes, nodding. “Very well, very well, one robot crush coming up.” </p><p>“You should name a pizza that,” Chip said. </p><p>“We are wasting time,” Lauren reminded them impatiently. </p><p>They formed a line next to each other. Lauren took a deep breath and opened her samurizer. “Ready, guys?” They all nodded. “It’s morphing time!” She said and drew the symbol for fire in front of her. “Go, go, samurai!” </p><p>“Blue ranger power!” </p><p>“S-P-D! Emergency!” </p><p>“Time for Time Force!” </p><p>“Magical source! Mystic Force!” </p><p>“Jungle beast! Spirit unleashed!” </p><p>They all morphed in unison and stood there looking at each other for a couple of seconds. </p><p>“We can communicate through the helmets’ system,” Jen said. </p><p>“Keep everyone updated!” Lauren ordered. “Rangers, let’s rage against the machines!” she touched RJ lightly on the shoulder and they ran towards one of the elevators to take them to the tower. Chip and Billy followed. </p><p>“Whatever you do,” Billy said turning to Jen and Bridge. “Don’t demorph under that beam!” </p><p>“Got it!” they said and ran towards the beam. </p><p> </p><p>Once inside the tower, Billy used an emergency map to locate the server room. “This is where we’re going,” he told Chip. </p><p>“Find Doctor K,” RJ told Lauren. “I’ll take care of Venjix.” </p><p>“Be careful!” Jen told him through the helmet system. </p><p>“Don’t worry, I’m immortal, not stupid,” he told her. </p><p> </p><p>Billy and Chip ran towards the server room, they had no way of knowing if Venjix knew they were in the tower and how much time they had left, so they had to work as fast as they could. </p><p>“Go inside,” Chip told Billy. “I’ll keep a guard on the door.” </p><p>“Alright,” Billy got inside and locked the door behind him. He put the two devices he had brought from the lab on the floor and started connecting network cables to them. </p><p> </p><p>RJ and Lauren split, and he went to the main control room, guessing that’s where Venjix was most likely to be. The door was open and he took a peek at the inside. About a dozen Grinders were guarding the room and in the very center, angrily staring at a monitor was… </p><p>“Doctor K!” RJ breathed, forgetting the others could hear him. </p><p>“What?” Lauren asked. “Did you find her?” </p><p>“Yes,” RJ said. </p><p>“You were supposed to be looking for Venjix!” Lauren told him. </p><p>“Oh, I think I found Venjix too…” </p><p>“In the main control room? Is he in one of the computers?” Billy asked. </p><p>“No,” RJ said. “I think he’s in Doctor K.” </p><p> </p><p>Jen and Bridge had no time to talk. As soon as they showed themselves, the Grinders had called for backup and what was half a dozen robots soon because more than three dozen. </p><p>“Let’s blast through these trash cans!” Jen told Bridge, summoning her V-blaster. </p><p>Bridge had both his blaster and sword out and was fighting the robots with the added ease from his ranger armor.  </p><p>“They just keep coming!” Jen said. </p><p>“We have to keep them distracted for a little longer! The others need time!” Bridge told her. “Let me help! SPD Special weapons and tactics!” He yelled and his S.W.A.T. power up appeared over his armor. </p><p>“That’s a really good help!” Jen said, blasting away at the never-ending river of robots coming in their direction. </p><p> </p><p>Billy was connecting the cables to his device. “RJ!” he called. “If Doctor K is Venjix’s vehicle our plan has gone down the drain. I can’t attack it on a human host!” </p><p>“Yes, you can!” RJ whispered. “Jen’s nanites! Program the nanites! I’ll buy you some time!” </p><p>“I’ll bring them to you, Billy,” Jen said. </p><p>“I’ll go help Bridge!” Chip suggested. </p><p>“No! We need your magic. Bridge, come upstairs with Jen. Stop the Grinders from getting to Billy,” Lauren instructed. “RJ, I’m coming to you!” </p><p> </p><p>Lauren found RJ by the control room and he motioned to her to stay quiet and hidden. “Stay here! Get ready to use that symbol,” he told her.  </p><p>She nodded. “Be careful!” </p><p>“Stop saying that! I am careful!” </p><p>RJ walked decidedly towards the door and as soon as he was on the doorway, he yelled: “Venjix!” Doctor K turned around and he saw she was pale and her eyes were reddened. “I have to admit this is the cutest you have ever looked!” </p><p> </p><p>Billy looked at Jen and asked: “Is he actually flirting with Venjix?” </p><p>“It was your idea!” She told him, holding back laughter. </p><p> </p><p>“And you are?” Venjix asked using Doctor K’s body. </p><p>“Your best dream or your worst nightmare. It’s up to you, really.” </p><p>Venjix looked at the Grinders over her shoulder. “Kill him,” she ordered. </p><p>The Grinders came for RJ and the kung fu master smiled under his helmet. It was always a pleasure to destroy Grinders. </p><p>He kicked the robots back and then pointed his morpher at them. “Wolf beam!” he yelled and shot through half of them.” Venjix looked at him, stunned. “Spirit of the wolf!” RJ called and his wolf spirit appeared in the room, destroying the rest of the Grinders. RJ just stood by the door, his body language telling Venjix clearly he wasn’t phased in the slightest by the Grinders. </p><p>“More will come,” she warned him. </p><p>“And I’ll destroy them just as easily,” RJ said with a shrug. “Guess this is one battle you’re gonna have to fight yourself.” </p><p>Lauren was listening to RJ’s talk with Venjix and she was getting worried. More Grinders were on their way to the command room and Chip and Bridge were alone to fight them. </p><p>“Are you here for the good doctor?” Venjix asked. “She is gone.” </p><p>“Nah,” RJ dismissed. “She might be buried, but she’s not gone.” </p><p>“You seem very sure of that.” </p><p>“I once saw a teenager break free from the possession of a dragon demon that had lasted the best part of a year. She’s not gone.” </p><p>“Do you know who she is? Who she truly is?” Venjix asked, grabbing one of the Grinders’ weapon. “Do you know what she did? Do you know who you’re trying to save?” </p><p>“She created you, Venjix,” RJ told him. “I know she did.” He took a step back towards the door. “That doesn’t mean I’m handing her over to you on a silver platter.” </p><p>Lauren couldn’t believe her ears. “Doctor K created Venjix?!” She asked angrily. </p><p>“Yes,” Billy said, knowing RJ couldn’t answer. </p><p>“She caused all this death and destruction?!” </p><p>“Lauren! We don’t judge the people we are supposed to save!” Jen reminded her. </p><p>“I wouldn’t be here if I had known she created Venjix!” </p><p>“Lauren!” Chip called. “Don’t do anything stupid, Let RJ take care of it!” </p><p>“He will try to save her!” Lauren yelled. “She has to be destroyed with her creation!” </p><p>“Lauren! No!” Jen called. </p><p>Lauren ran into the room, sword held high above her head. “You killed my brother!” she yelled. Much to her surprise, she found herself being dragged back, her arms pinned behind her head with a tight hold. She felt her wrist twisted until she lost the grasp of her sword and it fell to the ground. </p><p>“Let go of me!” She yelled, kicking backwards trying to get RJ to let go of her. </p><p>“No!” RJ said sternly. “Lauren, stop this!” </p><p>“No!” The red ranger yelled. “She killed them! She caused all of this!” </p><p>Venjix laughed from across the room, in Doctor K’s boy. “Let her try,” she told RJ. </p><p>“Lauren! Listen to me!” RJ yelled, shaking the red ranger. “You’re a Power Ranger! You are the most important ranger!” She kept struggling against him. “Lauren! Not this! Not like this!” </p><p>“Let me go!” She yelled. </p><p>“Lauren! Please! Stop this!” </p><p>“I will destroy them both at once with or without your help!” She yelled. </p><p>“Lauren!” RJ yelled again, still trying to shake her back into her right mind. He looked up and saw that K was no longer in the room. She had probably left using the other door. “Damn it! We lost her!” </p><p>He let her go and she immediately went for her sword, turning around and threatening him with it. “Don’t ever do that again!” </p><p>“Yeah, because I’m the one who’s being unreasonable here!” He told her. “She’s gone, now we have to look for her all over the building!” </p><p>“When I find her, she will die!” Lauren told him. </p><p>“Lauren, stop.” </p><p>“No!” </p><p>RJ pushed her sword to one side and hugged her tight. “Killing her won’t bring them back. Jayden, Vida, Fran… killing K will not stop Venjix and it won’t bring them back.” She struggled against his hold and he hugged her tighter. “Lauren, please. It will only add to the kill count. They’re gone and killing K won’t change that. We have a shot at stopping Venjix for good, but I need you in your sound mind.” </p><p>“She created Venjix!” She told him and sniffed. She was crying inside her helmet. </p><p>“And she is as much his victim as everybody else, Lauren.” </p><p>Lauren stopped struggling but RJ didn’t let her go. “We can destroy Venjix but only with your help.” </p><p>“I don’t want to rescue her,” she whispered. </p><p>“Yes, you do,” RJ whispered. “You do because you are a red ranger and you know your duty comes before anything else.” </p><p>“You do it,” she told him. “Take care of her.” </p><p>“I need your symbol,” he told her. </p><p>“I’ll be ready.” </p><p>RJ let go of her and ran out the other door, looking for K. He stood in a crossroad of two corridors and was trying to decide when a shot went past him and caused one of the lamps to explode. He turned around and found K pointing her gun at him. </p><p>“Game over, ranger,” she told him and shot.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Human drive</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>RJ let out a pained cry when the shot hit him directly on the chest. He cursed. He let himself drop to his knees, clutching his chest. From the helmet he saw K walking towards him, the weapon held high. </p><p>He forced himself to get back up, despite the pain. </p><p>“And what are you supposed to be?” she asked. </p><p>“Sorry?” </p><p>“What silly little animal did you get to dress up as?” </p><p>“Oh,” RJ said, taking a step backwards. “I thought you had heard me. A wolf.” </p><p>K laughed. “A wolf? You?” she asked. “You are more like an annoying little dog, you know the kind.” </p><p>“No,” RJ said, trying to keep the conversation going while he came up with a plan. “Guys,” he said through the system. “I’m taking her to the roof. Jen get those nanites to Billy. Bridge, Chip and Lauren, I’ll see you in the roof!” </p><p>“The roof is like 500 floors above the ground!” Chip told him.  </p><p>“Even if you don’t die, it will be very painful to break every one of your bones!” Jen told. </p><p>“Oh, for Heaven’s sake! I am careful!” He responded, losing his patience. </p><p> </p><p>“You’ve gone quiet, puppy,” Venjix told him. “Starting to realize how hopeless your situation is?” </p><p>“Hope dies last, Venjix.” </p><p>“And you hope to make it out of this alive?” She asked. “You hope to free K from me?” </p><p>“Well, if you want to destroy me, you’re gonna have to catch me.” </p><p>He turned away from her and ran away, looking for the stairs. </p><p>He could hear her footsteps behind him. He was counting on something Venjix didn’t seem to have considered: Doctor K’s body was exhausted. </p><p> </p><p>Jen arrived at the server room and Billy opened the door. </p><p>“We’ll meet RJ at the roof!” Chip told them and he and Bridge ran looking for the stairs too. </p><p> </p><p>Lauren was running in the direction of the stairs too. She was letting the sounds guide her. </p><p>“Lauren, I’m in the north staircase, she’s coming after me, but I don’t think it will last much longer. Find Chip and Bridge and I’ll see you on the roof!” RJ told her through the comm system. </p><p> </p><p>Jen summoned the first aid kit and pulled out a ball of nanites and a device to program them. “Let’s connect the antivirus drive to them, they’ll be programmed in a couple of minutes.” </p><p> </p><p>Lauren waited for Chip and Bridge to get to the same floor and pointed in the direction of the south staircase. “She can’t see us before we’re all ready,” she told them. They ran behind her to climb the stairs all the way to the roof. </p><p> </p><p>RJ kept running up the stairs until he heard K’s body taking deep breaths. He looked at the handrail and her hand had stopped two floors below him. She tried to keep climbing the stairs but soon find herself on her knees. </p><p>RJ turned around and descended to where she was. </p><p>“What is happening?” Venjix asked, taking deep gulps of air. </p><p>“She’s human,” RJ told her. “No matter how strong you are, you are only as strong as she is.” </p><p>Venjix tried to raise the weapon to shoot him again, but instead collapsed on the floor. </p><p>RJ turned her over and picked her up over his shoulder. Now, to make his way to the roof. </p><p> </p><p>“They’re ready!” Billy told Jen. They unplugged everything and ran out of the room, to find their path blocked by grinders.  </p><p>Jen summoned her v-blaster again and opened fire, running through the mass of robots, Billy at her wake. </p><p>“We have the nanites!” She yelled. “I’m on my way to the roof!” </p><p>“Use the elevator!” Chip recommended with laboured breath. </p><p>“Got it!” </p><p> </p><p>RJ made his way to the roof of the tower and put K’s body gently on the floor. He took her pulse and she seemed to be fine. Exhausted but fine. </p><p>He looked around, waiting for the others to come. </p><p>“What is your plan, pup?” Venjix asked from the floor. </p><p>“Saving Doctor K from you,” RJ told her. </p><p>“How do you think you’ll manage that?” </p><p>“I don’t think you like her body very much,” RJ told her. </p><p>“I don’t” Venjix said, getting up with effort. “I think I’m just going to throw her over the edge and find a new body.” </p><p>“I’ll make you a deal, Venjix,” RJ said. “You leave her and you can have my body.” </p><p>“And why would I want your body?” </p><p>“Because I can stand the direct transfer from the Morphing Grid,” he told her. “And I think you’ve been looking for someone capable of that.” </p><p> </p><p>“What is he doing?” Jen asked the others through the comm. </p><p>“Stalling him!” Lauren said. </p><p>“We have to get to the roof! Now!” Chip told them. </p><p>“We’re running out of time!” </p><p> </p><p>Venjix walked to the edge of the roof. “I think I’d rather throw K off the ledge,” he said. “I already got everything I needed from her.” He turned to RJ with a wicked smile. “And I don’t like to be lied to.” </p><p>“I’m not lying,” RJ said. “You can’t turn me into light and heat.” </p><p>“I can turn HER into light and heat,” she said. </p><p>“But you’re not going to,” RJ said. “Not until you find another body.” </p><p>“I can make as many bodies as I want,” Venjix told him. “She restarted one of my biggest factories.” </p><p>“The one about two clicks from here?” RJ asked. “I believe it was me who blew that one open for you.” </p><p>“You?” </p><p>“Yes, Venjix. Me. You took someone very important from me, but I see that I’ve been fighting for the wrong side.” </p><p> </p><p>“Did any of you know any of this?” Billy asked. </p><p>“No,” Chip and Lauren said in unison. </p><p>“I did,” Jen said. “It’s a long story.” </p><p>“About him switching sides?!” Billy asked. </p><p>“No, about the person Venjix took from him.” </p><p>“Darn this man and his endless secrets!” Billy yelled. </p><p> </p><p>Venjix laughed.  “What is that supposed to mean?” </p><p>“That you won,” RJ said with a shrug, walking to the edge of the roof too. “You won and I want in.” </p><p>Venjix laughed again. “Why would I want a weak human body when I can have as many robotic bodies as I want?” </p><p>“Because you will want this human body,” RJ said, pointing at his chest. “You shot me point blank and I’m still here, Venjix. You can’t kill me. You can’t exhaust me. I am better than any robotic bodies you can create for yourself.” </p><p>“And why is that?” </p><p>“Because I can’t die and I can’t be destroyed.” </p><p> </p><p>Lauren and Chip got to the roof and opened the door, running out looking for RJ and K. They were on the other end of the roof, at the very edge. </p><p>“RJ!” Lauren called, but the wolf master didn’t answer. “What are you doing?” </p><p>Through the intercom, RJ’s voice came through in a very soft whisper. “I am the drive.” </p><p>“What?” </p><p>“You know what to do.” </p><p> </p><p>“And let’s say I want to infect your body too.” </p><p>“Not ‘too’, Venjix. One or the other.” </p><p>“You are just trying to save K.” </p><p>“If I demorph right now, I run the risk of dying from your beam of doom.” </p><p>“And that’s the reason you won’t do it.” </p><p>RJ lifted his left wrist and pressed the button on his morpher, the purple armor disappearing. “It’s a weak, exhausted body or a strong immortal body, Venjix. Your call.” </p><p>RJ moved closer to K and the others could no longer hear what he was saying. </p><p> </p><p>“What do we do?” Lauren asked Chip, as Billy, Jen and Bridge joined them. </p><p>“You heard him! He is the drive!” Chip told the others. </p><p>“He is the drive?” Jen asked. </p><p>“He will get Venjix to infect him. Lauren, prepare the seal, I will prepare my spell, we are going to trap Venjix inside RJ!” </p><p>“We can’t trap all of Venjix inside RJ! He will—” </p><p>“What? Die?” Chip asked. </p><p>“He’s good,” Billy said. </p><p>“I will get closer, to get K as soon as Venjix leaves her,” Bridge said and started moving stealthily towards the pair. </p><p> </p><p>“So? Yes or no, Venjix?” </p><p>“I don’t believe that you can’t be killed,” Venjix told him. “Humans are disposable.” </p><p>“So are trash cans.” </p><p>“How can I know that you will not die?” </p><p>RJ stood on the ledge, letting one of his feet dangle on the precipice. “I am not afraid of death, Venjix, because it is powerless to me.” </p><p>Venjix watched RJ stay completely calm and still with half of his body unsupported by the building. </p><p>“Fine,” Venjix said and Doctor K’s body started glowing. </p><p>RJ opened his arms and stood very still. He closed his eyes and prepared for a world of pain. </p><p> </p><p>Lauren and Chip ran after Bridge with Jen and Billy closing the group. They watched Doctor K’s body glow and the light emanating from her going straight into RJ’s chest, making the wolf master scream in pain. </p><p>“Ready?” Chip asked Lauren. </p><p>“As I’ll ever be.” </p><p> </p><p>They ran towards RJ. Bridge caught K before she fell of the edge, having collapsed completely exhausted. </p><p>“Is she alive?” Billy asked. Bridge swept his hand over her. </p><p>“Barely.” </p><p> </p><p>RJ was still screaming with pain when Chip pointed his staff at him and recited a long spell that seemed unpronounceable to the others. </p><p>A yellow light emanated from his staff and RJ’s screams got louder, now several golden strings of light were attaching to his body as all instances of Venjix in the planet were sucked into his body. </p><p>Jen had tears in her eyes watching RJ suffer. “Make it stop!” She ordered. </p><p>“We have to wait,” Lauren said, a tremor in her voice betraying how nervous she was. </p><p>Billy and Bridge were still tending to Doctor K. </p><p> </p><p>RJ stopped screaming when all the strands of golden light were finally all inside his body. He opened his eyes and his irises were glowing red. </p><p>As Venjix looked around, getting the hang of his new body, Lauren drew the complex symbol in the air. </p><p>“Symbol power!” she yelled and the symbol trapped RJ in place. </p><p>“What?” Venjix asked, now from RJ’s body. </p><p>He turned around and saw Chip pointing an arrow at him. “So long, Venjix!” Chip called and shot the arrow loaded with the programmed nanites. </p><p>The arrow hit RJ on the shoulder and the blue light from the nanites began flowing into him. </p><p>“NO! How?!” Venjix yelled before RJ started shaking and screaming in pain again. </p><p>“We believe in magic, loser,” Chip told him. </p><p>RJ screamed again and fell on his knees. “NO!” Venjix yelled as loud as RJ’s voice could go. The blue light of the nanites was flowing through RJ and then, RJ got on all fours and vomited a black substance. </p><p>He spat several times on top of the vomit. “Well, that wasn’t fun,” he said, sitting back. </p><p>“What is that?” Lauren asked, pointing at the vomit. </p><p>“The nanites,” Jen said. “After finishing Venjix they turned into activated carbon, he threw them up.” She ran to RJ and hugged him. “You are insane.” </p><p>“You wouldn’t like me any other way.” </p><p>“The beam!” Bridge said. “It’s gone!”  </p><p>“With Venjix gone, its connection to the Grid also died. We can demorph now.” </p><p>To everyone’s surprise, Jen demorphed and proceeded to kiss RJ earnestly. </p><p>“You scared me!” </p><p>“I’m immortal!” </p><p>“You would have been Venjix’s immortal body if this hadn’t worked.” </p><p>“My wolf would never let Venjix take over me.” </p><p>“You’re lying.” </p><p>“Yes. Did it make you feel better?” </p><p>“Not in the slightest.” </p><p> </p><p>Doctor K stirred on the floor and opened her eyes. </p><p>“Who are you?” she asked weakly. “Where am I?” </p><p>“Doctor William Cranston, doctor,” Billy said offering her his hand. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. The rest is history</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“The first victim of this maniacal plan was Ziggy,” K said with a broken voice. “He was turned into light right in front of me.” She started crying. “That’s what broke the last of my resistance.” </p><p>RJ gave her a hug and ran his hands over her hair.  </p><p>“He’s right here with you. When he turned into light and heat, he became one with you. His atoms are now your atoms, you are now one,” Billy told her, patting her softly in the back. </p><p>“I will never see him again,” she whispered. “I guess we all lost to Venjix.” </p><p>“No, doctor,” RJ said, still hugging her. “This time we won for real.” </p><p> </p><p>The next couple of days were full of work in the garage. Jen and Bridge interviewed K and Billy about Venjix, obtaining the information they had been sent to get. Billy and RJ finished reconstructing the lab for K and Chip used his magic to repair her broken musical instruments. </p><p>“Thank you!” K said. “I don’t deserve this.” </p><p>“Yes, you do.” Billy said. </p><p>Lauren approached K. “Doctor,” she stared. “I am sorry for doubting whether I should save you. My anger—” </p><p>“I doubted whether you should save me,” K told her. </p><p>“Come on,” RJ said. “Let’s make ourselves a pizza and call this mission completed.” </p><p>“We’ll be right there,” Jen told them, looking for a device on her catalogue. She found it and summoned it, the device a long silver tube with a claw like end. </p><p>“Is that a sonic screwdriver?” Bridge asked excitedly. </p><p>“A what?” </p><p>“Never mind.” Bridge looked at the real feed from the cameras, the city appearing completely empty. “I am afraid of going back home now,” he admitted. </p><p>“Why is that?” Jen said manipulating the device she had summoned. </p><p>“Because this never happened where I’m from. Venjix never killed all the population of Corinth. He was defeated by the RPM rangers.” </p><p>“And what did happen?” Jen asked. </p><p>“After Venjix was defeated, the planet started a slow recovery. Eventually the population of Corinth spread out into the world again and Earth was repopulated.” </p><p>“Was it?” Jen asked, still manipulating the instrument. </p><p>“By both humans and aliens.” </p><p>“Interesting,” Jen said, connecting the claw-like end of her device into the mainframe of K’s lab. Bridge watched on the screen how the video of the empty city was replaced by the loop Venjix had been feeding them and eventually a complete fake video of the population leaving Corinth in calm and organized lines. </p><p>“What?” </p><p>“We can’t change what happens, Bridge,” Jen told him. “But we can change history. History is not what happened. History is the records of what happened. And records can be modified, altered, faked… The population of Corinth never heard of Venjix again and a year after Venjix was defeated, they left Corinth in droves to repopulate the planet.” </p><p>“But that’s not what happened!” </p><p>“It is now,” Jen said, disconnecting the device and putting it away again. “History is written by the winners, Bridge. And we won.” </p><p> </p><p>In the kitchen, Billy was entertaining K with a conversation about quantum physics, while RJ worked on the dough, Chip on the sauce and Lauren sliced the other ingredients. </p><p>“I don’t know about that,” RJ said. </p><p>“Oh, come on!” Billy said. “The whole universe being connected into one thing is the kind of new age thing you love!” </p><p>“But at what price?” RJ asked. “I’d hate to think that my entire life is predetermined by the atoms in Jupiter.” </p><p>“Considering how long your entire life will be!” Chip said and they all laughed, including K, who was eating marshmallows directly from the box. </p><p>“Robert James, commander of his life, captain of his destiny!” Billy mocked and they all laughed. Except Jen, who looked at RJ as if she had never seen him before, opened her mouth in surprise and nodded. </p><p>RJ looked at her. “What?” </p><p>“I’ll tell you later.” </p><p> </p><p>The pizza was made and eaten with gusto. </p><p>“I’m going stay with K, trying to automate as many of the city systems as we can,” Billy said. </p><p>“Well, I can’t say I have a pizza store to run anymore,” RJ said with a shrug. “I’m in if you will have me.” </p><p>“It would be an honor, wolf master,” K said with a smile. </p><p>“Lauren and I can help too, I think.” Chip said. </p><p>“I would love to study your powers!” K told them. “If it’s not too much of a bother.” </p><p>“Of course not!” Lauren said. “I’d be honoured to tell you the story about my family.” </p><p>A beeping sound came from the lab and Jen and Billy looked at each other and smiled. </p><p>“It worked!” Billy said and they both got up and ran to the lab. </p><p>“What worked?” Chip asked. </p><p> </p><p>From the lab, Billy called. “RJ?” </p><p>“Yes?” </p><p>“Can you come here for a sec? We want to show you something.” </p><p>RJ got up from the table and entered the lab. The main screen was showing Dom, who was now sporting a beard and a very dark tan. </p><p>“Dom?” He called. </p><p>“RJ!” Dom said with a smile. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” </p><p>“How did you…” RJ looked at Billy and Jen, who just smiled. </p><p>“I was contacted, they said it was on your behalf.” </p><p>“I…” RJ was at a true loss for words. </p><p>“Look,” Dom said, showing him his master stripes. </p><p>“Oh, Dom, I’m so sorry,” RJ whispered. </p><p>“Meh, just a longer party, no big deal,” Dom said with a shrug, </p><p>“Is it really him?” A voice said from behind the camera and Dom nodded. RJ’s eyes filled with tears at the sound of that voice. </p><p>“Fran?” he choked out. </p><p>Fran appeared on the screen next to Dom, her hair braided back and her skin almost as dark as Dom’s. “RJ!” </p><p>“You’re alive!” he said with a broken voice. </p><p>“Yes! Venjix captured me but Dom saved me.” </p><p>“That’s how I got the stripes.” </p><p>“We’ve been trying to find you and the others but you guys vanished!” </p><p>RJ looked at Billy and Jen. “How did you?” </p><p>“A DNA sample from your bandana led to a DNA profile, which lead to a list of survivors, which lead to this,” Jen said. </p><p>“We’ll leave you alone,” Billy said and they both left the lab. </p><p>RJ turned to the screen again, crying with happiness. </p><p>“It’s been a crazy three years, let me tell you, first captured by Venjix and working on a factory and then one day, Dom showing up on the factory and finding me, then he had a crazy plan to escape that we had to go through with and it was the craziest plan ever—” </p><p>“Breathe, Fran,” Dom interrupted. </p><p>“No, please,” RJ said. “Tell me everything, Fran.” He sat down on K’s chair and listened to Fran’s long-winded tale, feeling he could hear her talk for the rest of his life. </p><p> </p><p>Finally, it was time to go home. </p><p>“Perhaps you can record a new message inviting everyone to Corinth, now there’s more space,” Bridge suggested. </p><p>“Just remember the story, everyone left to repopulate the planet,” Jen reminded them. </p><p>“Got it,” Billy said on behalf of the group. </p><p>RJ stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Jen. “Any time after the year 3000,” he whispered. “I will find you.” </p><p>“I know you will.” </p><p>She and Bridge boarded her time ship and soon they were back on Bridge’s time. </p><p>“Bridge, before you leave,” Jen said, pressing some buttons on the console. Bridge was sitting in one of the chairs. “I’m sorry.” </p><p>“For what?” Bridge asked and then he felt a soft current running through his head. </p><p>“You can’t remember what happened,” Jen whispered. </p><p>Bridge was in a sort of trance when Jen led him back to the spot his past self just had vacated: lying on the floor, interrogating a cat. </p><p>“Goodbye, Officer Carson. You were great,” she said and left a confused Bridge looking around for his cat witness. </p><p> </p><p>Finally, she got home. The ship materialized in the same hangar from where it had left and Jen got up from her seat, stretching her muscles. </p><p>She teleported to the bay and found Charles there, smiling. </p><p>“How did it go?” He asked with a smile. </p><p>“I want to talk to him.” </p><p>“He’s busy—” </p><p>“Either I talk to him or he’s never getting the information he sent me to find.” </p><p>Charles moved away from her discreetly making a call from a device in his ear. Alex was gone. </p><p>“Okay, sergeant, follow me, please.” </p><p>Charles led her through the building to the very top floor of the office building. They walked down a long corridor and then Charles knocked on a door. </p><p>“Sir?” he asked, opening the door. “Sergeant Scotts.” </p><p>“Thanks, Case,” said a very familiar voice. </p><p>Jen entered Commander James Robertson’s office and he had his back turned to her, staring into a monitor. </p><p>“How did it go?” He asked. </p><p>“You know exactly how it went.” </p><p>“Well, not anymore,” he said turning around. “I don’t actually have perfect memory, I lost my old journals and that was over one thousand years ago.” He smiled at her and she ran to him. </p><p>They kissed. </p><p>“I told you I’d find you,” RJ told her with a smile. </p><p>“How did you not forget me too?” she asked. </p><p>“I wrote it down where it would never erase,” he said, pulling his sleeve up and showing her a tattoo codified in braille. “Why don’t you tell me everything over dinner? I’d love to remember that time!”</p>
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